


Behind the Wall

by walkingivy



Category: Whose Line Is It Anyway? RPF
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dark Dan - Freeform, Denial of Feelings, Domestic Violence, Explicit Sexual Content, Homophobia, M/M, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:08:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 31,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24027901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/walkingivy/pseuds/walkingivy
Summary: AU - Dan Patterson stumbles upon Ryan Stiles while he is still working as in stand-up and offers him a position on his new radio broadcast Whose Line is it Anyway?. Ryan and Dan enter into a relationship, which becomes increasingly unhealthy. Five years later, Whose Line is a successful television production when Colin auditions.
Relationships: Colin Mochrie/Ryan Stiles, Dan Patterson/Ryan Stiles
Comments: 17
Kudos: 37





	1. The Kiss of Death

=====.o0o.=====

To say that Colin was nervous would be like saying there was some water in the Atlantic. He was literally shaking in his boots. He tried to get his knees to stop quivering, thankful that he’d worn loose pants to hopefully hide the shaking. He was thirty-three years old and had done improvisation for over a decade, but he was still a very shy person that found auditions daunting. 

This one was especially daunting in its magnitude since television was a whole new ball-game. This one audition could change the course of his life forever, not to mention that he was standing across from three individuals whose sole purpose was to judge whether he was funny. No pressure. Two of them he knew to be Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson, who controlled the casting and would decide if he was hired. The third actually made him more nervous, though: Ryan Stiles, star of  _ Whose Line is it Anyway _ , the show he was currently hoping to become part of. Ryan had been on it since its inception and was often credited with a lot of the show’s success. Impressing him was Colin’s real goal here.

Mark looked tired and Dan looked rather bored, but Ryan gave him an encouraging smile as he began. The three men shouted out cues to Colin, and he quickly found his nerves dissipating in the familiar waters of improv. He bombed the Shakespeare request magnificently, and he mostly chose to talk instead of attempting to sing, but overall, he thought his audition went pretty well. Mark perked up almost immediately, and by the time he’d gotten through his skit, Ryan was trying to stifle his chuckles. Colin figured that had to be a good sign as Ryan almost never laughed on the show. Dan scribbled notes to himself. 

“All right. Thank you, Mr. Mochrie, for your time. We will get back to you within the next few days if we’re interested,” said Patterson casually.

Colin nodded and thanked them all before making his way out. He was just to the door when he overheard Ryan declare that he was perfect for the show. Colin didn’t dare stop and pretended not to have heard the comment, but inside he was glowing. He’d admired Ryan’s work on  _ Whose Line _ since he discovered the show about six months ago and honestly had a bit of a celebrity crush on the man. It felt positively delightful to know that Ryan thought he was pretty good too.

=====.o0o.=====

Colin was once again a bundle of nerves as he waited in the green room before the taping of his first episode. He sucked in a deep breath and tried to convince himself that he could do this, easy. It was just like the stage, but, you know, with cameras. 

“Nervous?” A nasally voice chimed in. “You keep up the sweating, and you’ll have to change your shirt.”

Colin turned around to face his antagonist, only to be greeted with a wide grin and an extended hand. He shook it. They’d already worked together briefly during the rehearsal, but this was the first time they’d formally introduced themselves. “Colin Mochrie.”

“Greg Proops.” Greg wiped his hand off on his pants in an unsubtle manner. “You’ll be fine. They wouldn’t let you on here if you weren’t fantastic.”

Colin swallowed and nodded. “I’m not sure Dan Patterson liked me all that much, but Ryan Stiles said I was great.”

“He said that?” Greg asked, incredulous.

“Uh… yeah.” 

“Ha!” Greg snorted, and for a second, Colin thought he didn’t believe him. Then he waved over another player. “Josie! Get a load of this. Colin here got the Ryan Stiles’ Kiss of Death.” Colin felt his eyes go wide. Kiss of Death?

At first, Josie seemed more sympathetic. She rested a hand on his shoulder and tutted. “He said he liked you?”

Suddenly, Colin couldn’t control the blush that was creeping up his face and wished he’d never said anything. “Yeah.”

“I give it two episodes,” Josie declared, no longer sympathetic to whatever his plight was. “Five pounds.”

“One episode,” contradicted Greg. “You’re on.”

“Another Kiss of Death?” Tony Slattery asked as he strolled into the room, turning immediately to Colin. “Did he laugh?”

“Um… yes.”

“Damn,” Josie muttered as Tony continued.

“Then I’m with Greg. One episode.”

“Ryan’s not scheduled for today’s show. I still say he’s got two.”

“Enough!” Colin barked, rising from his chair. He was no longer feeling a nervous wreck and more a bewildered idiot. “Could one of you please explain what’s going on?”

Greg decided to take pity on him. “If Ryan thinks you’re good, it means you’re really good. Problem is that Dan’s a jealous bastard and thinks anyone Ryan shows a remote interest in is a threat. He’ll hire you to make Ryan happy, then immediately find a reason to fire you before you start to feel like competition.”

“He’s done it several times now. The show’s got a high turnover rate with rotating chairs already, so it’s really hard to keep a regular seat.” Josie continued. 

“Unless you’re fucking the producer,” Tony chimed in.

“So I’m boned because Ryan thought I had talent.” Colin summarized, surprised that Ryan and Dan were together and more surprised that what he’d thought of as good luck might actually be the opposite. “That sucks. So how the hell did you guys do it? Stay on, I mean.”

“Ryan didn’t come to my audition,” Josie stated.

“Ryan said my voice was grating,” Greg declared proudly.

Tony finished off with, “My agent somehow set it up without ever meeting anyone. And I’ve been avoiding Ryan ever since.”

“So no one actually talks to him off-stage?” Colin couldn’t decide if he was more disturbed by the scenario or looking for a way to keep his job.

“No one but Greg and only because he has a death wish.” Josie shrugged. “It’s hard getting near him with that two foot leash Dan’s got on him.”

“Why…?” Colin grasped for the right words.

Greg slapped his back. “Come on, Temp, we’ve got a show to do. If you make a good enough impression, you might get picked up somewhere else.”

=====.o0o.=====

There was no way around it, Colin’s first episode sucked. He wasn’t sure if the other cast members had said all those things about Ryan’s Kiss of Death to fuck with his head or if he was actually doomed to be cut, but it ramped up his nerves tenfold and he was tripping over himself throughout the taping. Doing improv was like breathing air to him by this point, so it wasn’t a crash and burn scenario, but he was noticeably weaker than the other performers. 

That was why he was so shocked to be back at the studio for a second episode. He thought for sure that he’d be sacked, particularly given how cut-throat the business was in general and Dan seemed to be in particular. He had to fortify himself before he blew his second shot as well, so he left the green room and snuck outside for a cigarette. 

Ryan was already there, leaning against the wall and smoking. 

“Hey.” Colin said as he pulled out his own pack. He was suddenly brought back to the suggestion that talking with Ryan would get him fired but easily shrugged off the idea. He was most likely on for his last episode anyway.

“Hey.” Ryan replied, glancing at him sideways. After Colin fumbled in his pants for his lighter, he realized he’d left it in his jacket pocket inside. “Need a light?” Ryan offered.

“Please.” 

Ryan flicked on his lighter and leaned in close to light the end of Colin’s cigarette. They held the silence for a couple minutes, and Colin decided that it wasn’t odd at all. He barely knew the man standing next to him, but he felt completely at ease in his presence. Perhaps this was what softened his tongue enough for him to blurt out, “I don’t know why I’m here.”

Quirking an eyebrow, Ryan turned to face him. “At the studio? In England? On this planet?”

Colin let out the briefest of laughs. “The studio, I guess. I really bombed the last taping.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Ryan consoled. “I mean, it was pretty bad, but only in comparison to what you did at your audition.”

“You need to work on your comfort speeches.”

Ryan snorted and took another drag from his cigarette before dropping it to the ground and stamping it out. “Let’s be clear. I saw the recordings from your last session, and it was mediocre at best. Dan doesn’t keep mediocre performers because so much of the show relies on us being top notch at all times. Your audition, on the other hand, was remarkable. One of the best I’ve seen despite the fact that you looked like you might shake apart. If you can do that again today, I think we can keep you on. But I won’t be able to convince Dan to give you another shot again.”

Before Colin could respond, Greg popped through the door, already pulling out a cigarette. “Same bat-time?” Greg asked.

“Same bat-channel.” Ryan agreed as he side-stepped around him to move into the building, but Colin reached out and grabbed his arm. Ryan looked down at his hand, but didn’t object, while Colin could feel his face heat up. It had been so easy to touch him that he hadn’t given it much thought, but he supposed it was odd to touch strangers without good reason. “You asked Dan to give me a second chance?”

Ryan wouldn’t come right out and say it. Instead, he replied, “Don’t fuck up.” Then he disappeared through the doorway.

“You’ve got some balls, man.” Greg commented once the door was closed. “Thought you’d avoid him like the plague like the rest of the mooks around here.”

“To be fair, I didn’t know he was out here,” Colin admitted. 

“You must have made one hell of an impression if Ryan asked Dan to keep you on. Never seen him do that before. Though the fucker just cost me five pounds.” Greg chortled.

Colin decided that this wasn’t going to be his last episode. He was going to show Dan that he deserved to stay.

=====.o0o.=====


	2. Operation Break Up

=====.o0o.=====

Colin was waiting in his chair on stage for the show to commence when it occurred to him that Ryan wasn’t the person who was scheduled to be sitting on his right; he hadn’t been on the roster tonight at all. Colin leaned in, cupping his hand over his mic to keep his voice from being picked up. “I thought Greg was supposed to be filming tonight.”

“I traded with him,” Ryan replied easily, not sparing a glance his way.

“Oh,” Colin said, looking back out to the crowd. And because Ryan seemed to have a tongue loosening effect, he followed it up with the question at the forefront of his mind. “Why?”

Ryan gave him a thoughtful look before responding just as quietly, “I wanted to work with you. Might be my only chance.”

Colin decided not to take offense at the insinuation that he would fail. It was probably true, anyway. He concentrated instead on the compliment of Ryan going through all this effort to work with him. He smiled softly to himself and turned back to the audience, feeling warmer inside and more confident. They’d rehearsed the types of games they would play earlier in the day, but Greg had done all the rehearsing with him, and he had no idea what to expect from Ryan. In fact, he wasn’t familiar with any of the performers from this set. Sandi and Paul were replacing Josie and Tony, so there was going to be a lot of opportunities to fall flat on his face.

Still, Ryan’s presence had a calming effect and he didn’t feel half as nervous as he had during his first taping. How annoyed had Dan been at the insistence to swap performers at the last minute? Had it even been last minute? He assumed that Ryan would have come to the rehearsals instead of Greg, but Ryan was so familiar with the line-ups that he probably didn’t need to rehearse. He wondered what Ryan had said or done to get Dan to keep him on for another show. They were lovers, or so everyone said, so maybe Dan had been happy to do Ryan a favor. Colin’s mind meandered its way to an image of Ryan in bed and found the thought to be far more alluring than he expected. He shifted in his seat and concentrated on Clive Anderson and his introductions.

Colin wasn’t in the first game, which didn’t surprise him because they always wanted to start off on a strong foot and no one had faith that he was that strong foot. Except possibly Ryan. In any case, he did find it enjoyable to watch the performers and hear their crazy antics, until he was practically jittery with excitement. Ryan was jittery, too, his leg bouncing up and down constantly when he sat between each game. 

The next game was Film and Theatre Styles featuring Colin and Ryan. As they stood, Ryan offered a handshake and wished him good luck. They waited at the center of the stage for Clive to collect suggestions and set the scene. Ryan was as serene as a star shining through the mist, and the tranquility washed over him in waves until Colin felt like he’d stood on that exact stage in front of that exact audience a thousand times before and every time they’d loved him. 

“And away you go,” Clive finished.

Colin jumped immediately in, taking Ryan by surprise by giving the first line. The whole world disappeared in an instant, and it was just him and Ryan playing a familiar game. Colin knew he had never worked so well with anyone in his life. He could sense the direction Ryan wanted to take things with a movement of the eyes or an intonation in his sentence. Ryan seemed to grasp and play off of his own cues before Colin even realized he was making them. The lines flew off their tongues like they were scripted and memorized, and their movements could have been choreographed with how in sync they were. Yet there was nothing rehearsed about their skit. The spontaneity and creativity was uniquely improv. In short, he was experiencing something almost magical and the look in Ryan’s eyes said that he sensed it too. 

Colin felt like he was coming down from some drug induced high when the buzzer told them the game was finished. The audience was cheering like crazy and even Clive seemed a bit subdued. Ryan tugged his elbow slightly to get him to move back to his seat, and Sandi gave him a high five as he sat down. “That was really quite good,” Clive declared in what Colin decided was the understatement of the century. “Unfortunately for you, that was a non-scoring round.”

Ryan snapped his fingers, but Colin couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. Good improv was like jumping out of an airplane, but without all the danger involved. Great improvisation, well that was a new experience. Ryan’s eyes danced as he passed him a look that Colin found himself reading with greater ease than he’d expected. Ryan didn’t think he would get kicked off the show.

As with most comedy shows, a bad day will keep spiraling down, but a good day will keep spiraling up. Everyone was filled with electrifying energy and excited confidence after their performance and all the players worked to bring their best to the remaining games. The audience, assured that they were indeed very good players, laughed a little easier and gave them the benefit of the doubt more often. Party Quirks, Weird Newscasters, and Dating Contestant were all fantastic. It was smooth sailing and brilliant acting throughout nearly every game. The only hiccup Colin found was when he was called down to perform with Sandi and no Ryan, but Ryan gave him an encouraging smile, Sandi was pretty skilled and Colin was floating, so the game went by smoothly as well.

When the shooting was finished, Ryan disappeared like his tail feathers were on fire and Colin felt his loss like a physical pain. Sandi and Paul both shook his hand and complimented him before preceding him down the stairs. Then Greg slapped him on the back as he came down from the stage. “Dude! You were amazing!”

Colin felt his cheeks flush. “Thanks, Greg.” He wanted to follow it up by commenting on the connection he’d had with Ryan, but it seemed like sacrilege to speak of it. Plus, Greg might feel insulted if he praised Ryan as a performing partner since he’d worked with him last time. 

“I can see why Ryan put up such a fuss about you.”

Colin couldn’t. Before that evening’s taping, he’d never performed that well, but he also had a niggling feeling that Ryan hadn’t ever performed that well, either. “Well, I wasn’t as nervous as last time,” Colin mumbled.

“Yeah, I’ll say. You want to celebrate with some drinks?”

“Does this mean that you think I’m staying?”

“Colin, buddy, there’s no way Dan can let you go after he saw what you can do, Kiss of Death or no,” Greg declared. “Now that is a bet I would make.”

“I get the feeling you’d bet on anything.”

Greg grinned merrily. “So I’ll pick you up in an hour? Where are you staying?”

Colin got the sense that Greg was keeping something from him but couldn’t put his finger on what it was. He didn’t seem like he meant any harm, though, so Colin relented. It wasn’t like he had anyone else to spend time with. He was a stranger in a foreign country. He gave Greg his address, which turned out to be the same hotel as Greg was using, and agreed to meet him that night.

=====.o0o.=====

“So, how long have you been doing improv?” Greg asked as they sat down at a secluded booth in the far corner of a small bar. Colin was surprised by the sudden interest in his life, but he figured Greg had stamped him for a lost cause before, and he was finally worth getting to know. He gave Greg the brief version of how he’d gotten from Point A to Point B and was favored with a similar summary of Greg’s career. Both had joined acting troops that used improvisation and fallen in love with the trade.

Afterwards, Colin took the opportunity to learn more about the show from an insider’s perspective and what he might expect going forward. Greg was a goldmine of information that never came across over the television, like who was in charge of what aspects of the show, who to avoid and who to suck up to. He gave him a run-down of all players he would meet eventually and what to expect when he worked with them. He was thorough but funny in his descriptions and Colin decided to take most of what he said with a grain of salt as Greg seemed the type of person to care more about telling a story than telling the truth. They passed nearly an hour laughing before Greg looked up suddenly.

“Look who finally decided to show up.”

“Sorry I’m late.” Colin followed his gaze to lock eyes with Ryan. He could tell immediately that Ryan hadn’t known he’d be there but was pleasantly surprised. “Move over.” He demanded and Colin scootched further into the booth so Ryan could sit beside him. Setting his beer down, he gradually inched into his seat. Then he leaned back and sighed.

“Another argument with Dan?” Greg asked.

“A discussion.” 

Greg snorted. “Was it about you coming here?”

“I didn’t tell him I was coming here,” Ryan mumbled into his drink as he took a long sip.

“You know most sane people are okay with their boyfriends having platonic relationships with other people.”

“Greg…” Ryan’s tone was warning, but Greg paid him no heed.

“I’m serious, Ryan! He’s isolating you. When’s the last time you talked to your friends in America? Your family?”

“Fuck this!” Ryan snarled, standing and nearly upturning the table. “I came here to get away from arguments, not have different ones. And for your information, my family stopped talking to me the day I told them I liked men.” 

Ryan turned to leave and Colin snagged his elbow for the second time that day to stop him. Ryan looked down at the hand and back up to Colin’s eyes. “Please stay,” Colin asked. “Greg will stop.”

Ryan looked over to Greg who nodded and slowly settled himself back into his seat. It took a moment for things to return to full swing, but return they did. Greg continued on in his elaborate stories, and Ryan occasionally chimed in with a modified and clearly more accurate version. 

When a lull appeared in the conversation, Colin asked about how Ryan had gotten into the business.

Ryan smiled. “Accidentally.”

“Oh, come on, Ry, you can’t just dangle things in front of me like that.” Colin blurted out when it became clear that Ryan had no intention of elaborating. The nickname slipped past his lips like it belonged there, and Colin was slightly apprehensive that he’d overstepped some boundary.

But then Greg joined in. “Yeah, come on, Ry!”

“All right,” Ryan relented, “but then I’ve got to get going. It’s already late. I dropped out of High School when I was 17 and started working at this strip club.”

“Ha!” Greg laughed sharply, and Colin’s eyes went wide.

“Not like that, perv,” Ryan reprimanded Greg. “I was a stand-up comic before the strippers came on. I couldn’t catch a break into anything bigger, so by day I was a mild-mannered fish monger and by night I’d stand up and do my shtick. Of course, as time went on, it became harder and harder to come up with enough material every night, particularly with what was largely the same crowds coming in, so I started making things up as I went. After a couple years, I was doing mostly improv without even knowing it.”

“And then?” Colin prompted.

“And then Dan spotted me and thought I must have been pretty decent because he gave me a chance on  _ Whose Line _ , and I’ve been there ever since. I know what you think of Dan, Greg, but he’s been really great for me. He got me a job doing something I love and getting paid like a rock star to do it.” Ryan checked his watch and excused himself.

Colin watched him go until he disappeared out the main entrance and turned back to a smirking Greg. He was confident that Greg was going to make a comment about checking out Ryan’s ass, but he surprised him by asking, “So, you’re in then?”

“In what?”

“Operation Break Up Dan and Ryan.”

“Whoa. Hold on there. That’s not really any of our business, is it? I mean, Ryan got pretty annoyed when you brought it up.”

Greg sighed and began again in a tone that suggested he was talking to a particularly slow toddler. “Were you just participating in the same conversation I was? He’s in denial, thinks he couldn’t possibly have any kind of good life it weren’t for Dan and goes out of his way to defend the man even when he doesn’t deserve it. Sure, Dan gave him his big break, but that doesn’t mean he has to spend the rest of his life repaying him.”

“Maybe he just loves him?”

“Ryan? Maybe. Dan? No, Dan just loves Dan.” Greg frowned at him. “I thought you’d be all over this. If they break up, then you would have a shot.”

“What?” Colin spluttered. “No, I’m not interested in Ryan.”

“Sure looks like it from where I’m sitting.”

“I’m straight.”

“Uh-huh. Well, if you don’t want to do it for yourself, then do it for Ryan. Poor guy is plucked from his home, flown to a different country where the only person he knows systematically cuts off any contact from every other living being and manipulates him until he believes that he’d be nothing without Dan. It’s practically Stockholm Syndrome.”

“You make it sound so sinister.”

“It is sinister!” Greg proclaimed, then deflated. “I’ve seen bruises on him.”

“You think Dan hits him?” Colin was appalled. He couldn’t really picture that, what with Ryan making Dan look more like a dwarf than the average height he was. Of course, Colin was 6’2”, and Ryan made him look short. Height had very little to do with a person’s strength or nature.

“Only Ryan won’t say that. But I’ve known him a couple years now and you start to pick up on patterns where Dan is pissed off and the next day Ryan seems to be favoring one side or moves a little slower. You saw how careful he was when he sat down after his big ‘discussion’ with Dan earlier? That’s not just tension, buddy.”

“Why would Ryan put up with that? I’m sure he could stop him.”

“I’m sure he could, but he won’t because he refuses to see Dan as a threat. Hard to do when your whole world revolves around one person. It’s just that he’s had a bad day or he’s had too much to drink. Ironic that Ryan’s the one known for his temper, and he’d never lay a hand on a lover.”

Colin drained his glass and made his decision. “So, what do we do?”

=====.o0o.=====


	3. Skydiving

=====.o0o.=====

Greg didn’t have much of a plan in the works. Colin supposed he should have expected that when he’d known Ryan for years and still hadn’t had any success in ending the abusive relationship. The only thing they seemed to have planned out were occasional meetings organized by coded terms and scheduled when Dan would be preoccupied with meetings or work. Since Ryan was often dragged into Dan’s work, it wasn’t unusual for him to simply not show up or cancel last minute, which was how Colin and Greg managed to spend several evenings drinking and chatting by themselves and no evenings drinking and chatting with Ryan for the remainder of filming.

Greg seemed convinced that Colin would fair differently, though. He argued that he’d never seen Ryan talk so openly in front of anyone else and they barely knew each other. Whatever luck Greg thought he was going to have didn’t pan out before they finished that season. He’d only been hired on near the end of taping in the first place, and because  _ Whose Line _ was improvisation, it never took particularly long to meet the quota of episodes. Colin only appeared in one more episode. The second taping with Ryan was nothing short of outstanding and no one could deny that there was some sort of harmony between them that made for beautiful improv.

Thus, it was with a thrilling exuberance that they all collected and went to a nearby bar to celebrate a successful season. Most of the cast had warmed up to him and were congratulating him on his performance. Colin smiled and passed the praise along to everyone else. 

“You really ought to sing for the musical parts.” Josie advised him, leaning slightly on his arm so she could be heard over the rambunctious crowd.

“I can’t sing,” Colin insisted. 

“Come on, now, everyone can sing.”

“You might change your tune once you hear me.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Josie asked, “Afraid the audience will laugh at you?”

Colin shook his head. “No, that’s the whole point.”

“Then what’ll it hurt?” Josie leaned in further and Colin had the vaguest feeling that she might be flirting with him. Normally, he’d be flattered, but somehow he found his eyes searching for Ryan. Josie followed his gaze to the table where Dan, Mark and Ryan were camped out and took a step out of his personal space. 

“I’ll think about it,” Colin promised vaguely as Josie was tugged away by Mike.

Greg appeared out of nowhere and slapped his shoulder. “Hey, Col! Let me get your contact information so we can keep in touch during the break.”

“Sure, but just so you know, I didn’t get a contract for next season.”

“What? That’s crazy!” Greg exclaimed loudly enough to draw some attention to them.

Colin kept his voice low to compensate, hating and jealous of the way that Greg couldn’t care less. “Dan said my first one was a flop, so he wanted to wait until we had some reviews and that he would contact me within the next few months if they were interested.”

“Bastard,” Greg muttered. “He’s just jealous that you and Ryan have chemistry.”

Colin sighed and began scribbling his address on a napkin. “Do you think it would help if I told him I had no intention of stealing his boyfriend?”

“The same way that listening to heavy metal helps put people to sleep,” Greg quipped as he wrote down his own contact information for Colin. “Besides, don’t think you’re getting out of Operation Break Up that easily.”

“What am I supposed to do a couple thousand miles away?”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

Colin finished up writing and handed the napkin off to Greg, then, with little more than a pause, he wrote down his address and private phone number on a new one, leaving his name off this time. Greg smiled and left him alone as he wrote. Then, he tugged out his pack of cigarettes and caught Ryan’s eyes across the room. He tapped the box into his hands a few times before heading to the exit. 

He was done with his first cigarette and starting in on his second when Ryan joined him, pulling out one of his own and lighting up. “Thought you weren’t going to show.”

“Nah, just took a moment to extricate myself with class.”

Colin held out the napkin, blue ink clear on its surface. “I thought we could stay in touch.”

Ryan took it and glanced at it briefly before shoving it in his pocket. “I’m not great at staying in touch,” He said after a minute.

Colin didn’t question if that was a result of Dan’s influence. Where Greg would have confronted him about it, Colin let it go with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll think of something,” he said, echoing Greg’s earlier comment. 

Colin stamped out his butt and turned to go inside, but Ryan dropped a hand onto his shoulder and gently tugged him until they were facing each other again. He pulled him nearer until they were close enough that Colin could smell Ryan’s smoke filled breath, and then Ryan surprised him by dropping his head onto his shoulder and winding his arms around Colin. Colin instinctively brought his hands up and rested them around Ryan’s thin frame. 

“You’re coming back,” Ryan insisted, voice mostly muffed by Colin’s shirt. “Dan just doesn’t know it yet.”

It might have been awkward for most people to hug someone that they barely knew, and perhaps more awkward knowing that Ryan was gay, but Colin found that he’d never felt so comfortable in someone’s arms before. He pulled him a little closer, and Ryan melted into the embrace. 

The door squeaked, and they wrenched apart. Ryan settled against the wall to finish off his mostly burned cigarette while Colin made for the door. He passed Dan who had undoubtedly come out to check up on Ryan and desperately hoped that they hadn’t been seen. He wanted to stay a few moments more, Greg’s voice reminding him that Dan wasn’t afraid to use his fists to get obedience, but feared that his continued presence might make things worse. Instead, he went up to the bar and asked for a strong drink.

=====.o0o.=====

Colin went home the next day. Days quickly turned into weeks and his life returned to its somewhat normal parameters. He hardly had to look for work to keep himself busy as his stint on _ Whose Line _ had gotten him some attention and Deb, his on-again, off-again, girlfriend was known to pass opportunities his way from her numerous connections in the business. She was currently dating some rising star of an actor, but Colin found that it didn’t bother him all that much. Greg called him a few times and pestered him for news about his contract with  _ Whose Line _ , among other things. While he genuinely liked Greg, this was quickly becoming an annoying habit because Colin hadn’t heard anything from Dan or Ryan since the celebration at the bar. 

After three months, Colin got a brief story arc on a late-night show that he was to film in Los Angeles. Greg cheerfully invited him to come visit his home in San Francisco when he told him about the show. It wasn’t even close to on his way, but Colin agreed anyway since he wasn’t sure when he’d be in California again. Greg was a hospitable host and acted like they’d known each other for years, when in actuality, Colin hadn’t even known he was married until he introduced his wife. Still, it was a pleasant few days with Greg, and they were fast becoming good friends.

When Colin returned, he had another pleasant surprise in the form of a letter. It wasn’t entirely unheard of for him to get fanmail, and that’s what he immediately dismissed the small envelope with no return address as, and didn’t even open it for a couple days. When he did, he was greeted by a brief and entirely peculiar note from Ryan, which simply contained a date, time and channel. He was very fortunate that he’d opened it when he did or he would have missed the interview entirely. As it was, he missed the beginning, but he didn’t need the day time talk show host to introduce Ryan Stiles or Dan Patterson.

“-which are just a few of the changes we’ve made to this series that we believe have contributed to our continued success.” Dan was finishing up what seemed to have been a long-winded speech. 

“And if I’m not mistaken, this season has been your most popular one to date.” The host prompted.

“Well, it’s really a very unique show and-” Colin mostly tuned Dan out in his very pompous explanation and looked for clues about how Ryan was doing. He was startled by how much he’d missed the man and how comforting it was to see his face, even if it was just on the television screen. Ryan’s leg was tapping up and down on the side of the screen, and Dan rested his hand on his knee while he was speaking until the nervous movement stopped. 

“I think a question that always comes up when we discuss  _ Whose Line is it Anyway? _ is whether or not it’s really all improvised.” The host continued, obviously directing her question more towards Ryan.

Dan answered for him. “The only thing we write for the players are the prompts, and only some of them. Anyone who has been to the filming can attest to that, and we often take audience suggestions, for which there is no way to prepare. If it seems scripted, it’s only because our performers are that good at their jobs.”

“What’s it like working on stage without any script?” 

Ryan crossed his legs and pretended like he hadn’t been treated like a decoration for the last ten minutes. “It’s like skydiving, but without all the danger involved.” Ryan began and Colin sucked in a breath at the description, the same one he’d always used when asked about improv. It seemed that he and Ryan thought similarly. “Sometimes it feels like you’re flying, but really you’re just falling and trying to make it look good.” 

There was some laughter from the audience and the host. “And what’s it like working with the other performers? Who is the best to work with?”

“It’s different. I used to work as a stand-up comedian and there, it’s really about trying to garner the most attention and the best laughs. As an improviser, it’s great because you’re not competing. You work together to build something and everyone adds something a little different. The cast Dan’s assembled now is simply fantastic. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, but we complement each other. Working with different people gives you a different experience.”

“I like how you cleverly dodged the question, there.” The host commented with a chuckle. Ryan just smiled. “Okay, so let’s talk a little about the newest addition to your crew because he’s been a hot topic since he made his first appearance.” A brief clip appeared on the screen of himself and Ryan doing their first scene together and even Colin felt a little surprised by how in tune their motions were. “How long have you worked with Colin Mochrie?”

Ryan raised his eyebrows. “We only met him when he auditioned for  _ Whose Line _ . That clip you just showed, that was the first scene I’d ever done with him. No one on  _ Whose Line _ has worked with him previously.”

“Really? So, if you hadn’t worked together, and none of it is scripted, I’ve gotta ask…” The host left a dramatic pause as she pushed her hair behind her ear and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Is he psychic?”

“God, I hope not,” Ryan blurted out, earning a smattering of laughter and a guarded look from Dan. Ryan was either oblivious or pretended to be. “He’s just very good at what he does.”

“I think what a lot of viewers are asking themselves at home is whether Colin Mochrie is here to stay. Can you share a little insight?”

Dan began to say something, but Ryan quickly cut him off while smiling sweetly at his partner. “Now that would be telling.” Dan seemed to be comforted by this response and didn’t contradict him as Ryan went on. “What I can say is that a lot of casting calls come down to ratings. What’s going to boost our ratings and what might hurt our ratings. And Colin’s only been in a few episodes and already we’re getting fanmail for him at the studio.”

Colin gaped openly at the screen. He was surprised that he’d already gotten fanmail for his work, but mostly he was shocked by what Ryan had just done on national television. He’d basically forced Dan into a position where he’d have to give him more episodes. He hadn’t explicitly stated that he’d be on for the next season, but he might as well have for all the implication and now if he didn’t appear on the next season, Dan would have hell to pay with disappointed viewers and questioning executives. Dan’s expression tightened slightly and Colin could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears, but he didn’t in any way challenge Ryan’s statement. It suddenly occurred to him that Ryan had openly defied him and that his decision to defend Colin’s position might come at a hefty price. Colin was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he nearly missed the next question and then immediately wished he had.

“So we’re just about out of time, but there’s one more thing I hoped we’d discuss. How are things going between you two? You’ve been together for what, five years?”

“Almost six,” Dan answered proudly, reaching around to tug Ryan closer possessively. Ryan responded by holding his hand and smiling. “And still happy.”

Colin turned off the television, deciding he definitely didn’t need to see any more of that. He told himself that he was angry at Dan, not jealous, and then picked up the phone to call Greg and see if he’d seen the segment. 

=====.o0o.=====

Colin finally got the phone call two weeks before taping was scheduled to begin and he figured that Dan was holding out a hope that he’d already committed to something else. But thanks to Ryan’s tip, he’d painstakingly kept himself wide open for _Whose Line_ , much to his agent’s chagrin. 

When his contract finally did come, he read it over meticulously to make sure Dan hadn’t built in a method of removing him. Greg had told him horror stories about Archie who had apparently groped Ryan during a game of Hands Through and was fired that day. Ostensibly, it was because he’d brought in his own props, which was a contract violation, but the rumor mill had it that Dan had given Archie the blessing to do so. Since then, Greg was the only one who worked with Ryan during Hands Through. Not finding anything overtly foreboding, Colin signed the contract and sent it in.

=====.o0o.=====


	4. Superheroes

=====.o0o.=====

“I think you should kiss him.” Greg’s voice suddenly appeared in Colin’s ear, and Colin jumped in surprise.

“What?” Colin asked as he twisted around in his seat to look at the man behind him. The break between rehearsal and the show was almost finished, and they were getting make-up done before going on stage again. Colin had been patiently waiting his turn and watching Ryan across the room when Greg materialized, already finished.

“I think you should kiss him,” Greg repeated verbatim.

“I heard you. I just – no. He’s in a relationship.” Colin didn’t have to ask who the ‘him’ was. Sooner or later, their conversations always became about Ryan. 

“And you’re straight,” Greg added with a smirk.

“Right,” Colin agreed, slightly puzzled that that hadn’t been the first excuse.

“All right, even if you didn’t have the hots for him, he’s definitely been watching you.”

“Forget it, Greg. I’m not doing it.”

“Oh, come on, Col. Kissing a guy doesn’t make you gay.” He leaned into Colin’s face, and Colin had the idea that he might actually kiss him right then. “It’s not even that uncommon on stage for two guys to kiss.”

Colin could feel Ryan’s eyes on them and suddenly wanted Greg very far away from him. He felt his face heat up and twisted his chair out of Greg’s grasp. “I wouldn’t do that to him.” He muttered, not sure if Greg would hear or understand. Colin wanted to be a steady friend for Ryan, not think someone else was trying to get into his pants. And even on the off chance that Ryan was interested, Colin didn’t want to get his hopes up for something that was never going to happen. Colin didn’t date men. “And I don’t want to get fired my first day back.”

“Suit yourself. I’m off to have a smoke before we get started.” Greg patted him on the chest and tossed the comment carelessly over his shoulder as he left.

Ryan approached a moment later, make-up finished, and leaned against the table. “Want I should beat him up?”

“While I appreciate the thought, it’s probably best if you wait until after the show. Wouldn’t want to be a man down, after all.”

“Good point,” Ryan conceded as he folded his arms across his chest. Colin caught a glint of a ring on his finger that he couldn’t remember seeing before. It had the look of a wedding band and was on his left ring finger, so Colin decided to prod.

“Congratulations.” Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Well, it looks like you got married. When did this happen?”

Ryan’s cheeks colored, and he fiddled with the ring. “Yeah, well, obviously Dan and I can’t get married legally, so he gave me a promise ring a couple months ago. Honestly, I feel a little weird about going on stage with it, like I’m posing or something.” 

Colin wanted to comment or ask him what he meant, but the moment was broken by the arrival of the stylist, and Ryan hurried out of the room without so much as a parting word. Colin watched him leave and then chatted idly with the person working on him, apologizing for having so little to contribute in the hair department and earning laughs in reward for his self-deprecating behavior. 

Still, his mind kept wandering back to what he’d discussed with Ryan. Wearing a promise ring, was that like the gay equivalent of an engagement ring or a wedding ring? It looked for all the world like Ryan was committing to a future with Dan, but his words had been less clear and indicative of a lack of surety in their relationship. He decided he needed to spend some time gathering data before anything else.

As Colin neared the stage, a new wave of nerves grabbed hold of him, and he froze. What if he flopped again? What if his compatibility with Ryan was just a fluke? What if the magic was gone? Before he could bury himself too deeply in fear, someone came up behind him, and he knew without looking that it was Ryan. His presence soothed his frayed nerves as he calmly offered him a mint. Colin took one and popped it in his mouth before asking in a teasing tone if he had bad breath.

Within five minutes, Colin was gratified to learn that his fears were completely unfounded. Roaring laughter seemed to follow his every action. They started with a game of sound effects where they were supposedly changing a baby’s diaper. He couldn’t remember the game being played much before, but quickly discovered that Ryan was damn good at making sound effects. Even his baby’s cry was spot on. But what he liked best was the way they subtly were able to prompt each other to move the scene along seamlessly. He’d accidentally send the baby flying, Ryan would start in with the crying immediately. Ryan would make bubbling noises when he put the baby in the water, and Colin would hurriedly flip the baby over. He almost felt bad for the imaginary baby.

The magic between him and Ryan was just as evident as their first game together, and it looked like it was there to stay.

=====.o0o.=====

They quickly fell into a routine that lasted most of the season’s taping. Ryan was scheduled to be in nearly every episode, so it was either him or Greg (and very occasionally both him and Greg) taping with Ryan and getting up to all kinds of shenanigans while they worked. Colin was becoming increasingly certain that Ryan was intentionally stepping up his game with what could only be considered stage flirting in a weird ongoing game of gay chicken while simultaneously competing for who would make the most cracks at the other’s expense. Ryan seemed particularly fond of bald jokes at his prematurely receding hairline while Colin spread out his attacks over the size of Ryan’s feet or nose, his height, or his very thin physique. Ryan seemed rather self-conscious about all these attributes, so he never harassed one of them too long. 

A couple times a week, they’d get together for drinks and sometimes Ryan would show and other times he wouldn’t. When the topic of Dan came up, Ryan would defend him and they’d drop their complaints before he got angry and not much progress was made on that front except that Colin was starting to think that Greg was right about the relationship. He became more familiar with Ryan and his peculiar behaviors, watching him carefully for no other reason than to ensure his well-being of course, and despite Ryan’s best efforts to act normally, he sometimes slipped up. There would be a pained grimace or a quick gasp when he was jostled during their games, for example. He also caught Dan occasionally attempting to make amends, usually with an offering to take him out somewhere, and Ryan would duck his head and mutter an acceptance.

“I have no idea how you haven’t been fired yet,” Greg admitted after several drinks while waiting for Ryan one evening late into the season.

“What do you mean?” Colin asked, still very sober.

“Leg-humping man?”

Colin took a long drink as he attempted to hide his embarrassment at naming Ryan that during that day’s game of Superheroes. To be fair, he’d suddenly found it very hard to think with Ryan pressed up against his side after he’d been named Suction Man. And really, Ryan hadn’t hesitated a second before he began working on his leg and spitting out dirty comments like “Uranus is in trouble.” Colin felt he’d already been punished enough by very nearly getting an erection captured on television. “Please remind me to install a filter for my mouth.”

Greg snorted. “And it’s not like this is the first time.”

Colin’s mind immediately went into the gutter and thought about the shamelessly sexual things they’d slipped into their scenes. Ryan had named him Kama Sutra Boy in another scene, which had resulted in Ryan standing above him and gyrating his hips to unheard 70’s music as Colin pumped into the air. And then there was the scene where he was turned on by danger and Ryan was a boa constrictor, which was entirely the fault of whoever wrote the quirks, because they’d known what the other was playing in an instant and couldn’t help but use it to their advantage after that.

He could write a paper on the sexual tension they’d somehow worked into their games of Hands Through once Colin was given the part of Ryan’s hands. He knew from the moment that Ryan moved his hands from behind his own back to around Colin’s shoulders in a backwards hug that their games weren’t going to be the same as any of the others. Colin ended up shoveling food into Ryan’s mouth like every other game, but found his fingers being licked and sucked in the process. And Colin couldn’t decide which of them was more to blame for their behavior. 

“I mean, even your insults come out like an old married couple.” Greg went on when Colin refused to respond to him. “You might as well have kissed him because what you’re doing on stage is a whole lot… more.”

Colin opened his mouth to object, but found that he had no ground to stand on. Greg was absolutely right. “It just… happens,” Colin explained lamely. “I guess we’re both only thinking about what would be funny, and it… just happens.”

“Oh, I’m not saying it isn’t funny,” Greg corrected. “I’m just saying it’s worth thinking about how much you’re getting away with and maybe consider how you’ve been able to get away with it.”

Colin pondered the question as Greg stood up and pulled on his jacket, declaring Ryan a bust for the evening. Then, without warning, Greg planted a sloppy, wet kiss on his lips. Colin was too surprised to react before Greg pulled away. “You might also consider sailing a different river than denial. Ciao!” 

=====.o0o.=====

Colin stayed at the bar for another fifteen minutes nursing his first beer as he thought about what Greg had said. He contemplated everything he knew about Dan and concluded that even if their antics on stage were at least half Ryan’s fault, he was still surprised that no one had asked that he tone it down, and Dan wasn’t threatening his removal. It was possible that the tension slipped under the radar as low-brow humor for the audience and most of the crew, but there was no way someone as overprotective as Dan had missed it. So why was his ass not in a sling?

The answer always came back to Ryan. And Colin didn’t like that at all.

Pushing away his glass, Colin took the side door out to the alley where most people went to smoke and lit a cigarette. He’d been telling himself that he’d quit for years, but he was further from that goal than ever now that smoke breaks were an easy way to catch Ryan without the ever watchful eyes of Dan Patterson.

Colin had just taken a couple puffs when he felt himself thrown roughly to the side and dropped his cigarette. “Watch it!” He grunted, straightening himself, only to be thrust backward.

“Watch yourself, fairy.” Growled the man that had come busting out of the bar. He pushed him back against the wall, and Colin knocked his head on the brick surface. “We don’t want your kind around here.”

Colin finally got a good look at the man. He was built solidly enough but wasn’t a bear of a man. Colin figured if he got in a good swing, it would buy the time needed to get back into the bar where the man would most likely not continue the dispute and there was a chance to get some help. Colin had never been much of a fighting man, but he wasn’t opposed to self-defense and had been told that he could really pack a punch. But first things first, he would try and talk his way out. “Look, I don’t want any trouble. I was just about to leave.”

The homophobe snorted and pushed him against the wall yet again. “I’ve seen you in here plenty. You’re just going to come back with your fag friends. I think it’s time you were taught a lesson.”

Seeing that his original objective was not going to be met, Colin was just about to throw a punch when the stranger whipped out a knife. Quickly changing his mind, Colin raised hands. “We can work this out. My buddies and I won’t come here anymore.”

“Not good enough,” The thug spat, bringing his knife towards Colin.

Before anything else could happen, the man was wrenched off of him and pushed forcefully into the opposing wall, his feet dangling off the ground. Ryan was there, grappling with his attacker in a vicious rage. “Leave him alone,” Ryan growled.

“He’s got a knife!” Colin warned, but it was too late. Their attacker had already taken a swipe at Ryan, and he jerked away from the blade. 

“Boyfriend come to save you?” came the taunting voice. 

With a terrifying lack of concern for his own safety, Ryan stepped in closer and caught ahold of the man’s wrist, slamming it against the wall until the blade clattered to the ground. Then the two men were swinging at each other with fists. The stranger landed a couple punches before Ryan had him pinned again, and he started pounding on him. It was over before Colin even thought of joining in, but clearly Ryan didn’t need it. Instead, his concern for the homophobe began to grow as Ryan didn’t seem to be inclined to stop his beating. 

“Ryan, stop!” Colin finally demanded, but Ryan ignored him. Without a second thought, he reached out and placed a hand on Ryan’s shoulder, yelling again for him to stop. 

Ryan let the man fall and spun on his heel to face Colin. Ryan didn’t seem to know where he was or what he was doing, and Colin thought back to the rumors of Ryan’s fiery temper that he’d always dismissed as fabricated or at least exaggerated. His attacker took the momentary distraction as an opportunity to escape and scampered out of the alley like his life depended on it. Ryan’s arm was pulled back for a punch and his face was a mixture of rage, confusion and despair, and Colin was certain he was going to experience that beating first-hand. 

=====.o0o.=====


	5. Bruises

=====.o0o.=====

Sanity reclaimed Ryan’s features, and his shoulders slumped. He brought a bloodied hand up to place on the side of Colin’s face. “Are you okay?”

Colin nodded mutely, unable to get his mouth to form any words. 

“What happened?”

“Just some homophobe who wanted to teach me a lesson.” Ryan’s face was completely unreadable. He didn’t seem surprised by the comment of the homophobe though, and Colin suddenly wondered if Ryan thought he was gay. They’d never discussed it before. “Must have seen Greg kiss me.”

“Wait. Greg kissed you?” 

“He was pretty drunk,” Colin explained, then gasped as his eyes landed on Ryan’s shirt where red was spreading out over his chest. “You’re hurt!”

Ryan seemed to notice it for the first time when Colin pointed it out and muttered a curse. He tugged up the neck of his shirt and glanced down at his chest. “It’s not that bad,” He declared. 

“We should take you to the hospital.” 

“No!” Ryan protested vehemently, then lowered his voice. “No, it’s really not that bad. I just need like a wrap or something. The guy barely laid a finger on me.”

Colin wasn’t buying it, but he knew exactly how stubborn Ryan could be and thought he’d better cave so he could keep an eye on him. Pushed too hard, Ryan would run off fuming. “I’ve got some supplies at the hotel.” 

Ryan nodded his consent, and they caught a taxi back to where he’d been staying for the last few weeks. They shuffled through the lobby and up to Colin’s room in a silence that wasn’t as comfortable as it usually was. Colin’s hand hovered nearby, and he couldn’t refrain from passing concerned looks toward his companion in fear that he might pass out at any time. “I’m fine,” Ryan told him a dozen times.

When the door was safely latched behind them, Colin scurried about the room collecting a first aid kit, running a bowl of warm water and locating the washcloths. He returned to find Ryan standing in the center of the room where he’d left him and fiddling self-consciously with the tail of his shirt. 

Colin went to help him remove his shirt, and Ryan tensed up and backed away. “Really, Col, I’ve got this. Just give me the kit, and I’ll-”

“Ryan,” Colin cut him off using his most serious, someone just died, tone of voice. “Do you trust me?” Ryan stared at him like he had an extra head and nodded slowly. “Then let me help you.”

Ryan struggled with himself before dropping his hands to his sides and allowing Colin to unbutton his shirt. They both knew what Colin would find, but neither wanted to admit it. When he was finished, Colin lightly pushed the shirt over Ryan’s shoulders until it dropped down his arms, catching briefly on his wrists and then falling to the floor. Colin choked back his immediate reaction to the sight of Ryan’s chest and sides covered in layers of fresh bruises on older ones. He closed his eyes for a second to steel himself and then moved around Ryan to wet a washcloth. 

“The guy at the bar must have done damage more than I’d thought,” Ryan mumbled as Colin carefully cleaned the blood away. 

Colin didn’t look up from his work. “Please don’t lie to me.”

Ryan’s mouth shut with an audible click, and he stayed silent as Colin cleaned him up and started bandaging the cut which was long, but not very deep. After he finished that, Colin went on cleaning blood off of Ryan’s hands, revealing a couple smaller cuts, but the blood was mostly not his own. Finally, he threw down the washcloth. 

“It should heal on its own, I think. It’s not too bad.”

“Thanks,” Ryan replied, moving away. 

Colin caught his arm. “I’m not finished.” 

Biting his lip, Ryan returned to his place and stood still as Colin very gently ran his fingers over the bruising on his torso. Ryan sucked in a breath as he tread over a tender area, and Colin leaned in closer to inspect his side. “I think this rib is cracked,” he sighed. “You should really see a doctor.”

“What’s a doctor going to do for a cracked rib? They’ll just tell me to take it easy.”

Frowning, Colin continued his inspection onto Ryan’s back, which clearly hadn’t taken the same beating but still carried several bruises. Satisfied, he had Ryan sit on the bed while he put away the supplies. He half-expected Ryan to get up and leave as soon as the opportunity presented itself, but the man was still exactly where he’d left him. Colin leaned against the wall and stared at Ryan and his exposed chest. Ryan stared at the floor.

“How long has Dan been hitting you?”

Ryan didn’t respond for a long time. When he finally spoke, he kept his eyes glued to the carpet. “He’s been under a lot of stress lately. He wasn’t always like this. I’m just…. I’m not following the rules, and he gets upset.”

“So it’s getting worse,” Colin stated bluntly. “What if next time, it’s not a cracked rib, but a broken one? It could puncture your internal organs, your lungs… you could die. That could have happened this time.”

Colin slid his back down the wall until he was seated on the floor, but Ryan didn’t even look up. How much of this was sinking in for him? Ryan was smart, he knew, but it was easy to slip into denial about a bad situation. As far as he knew, it was normal for victims of domestic violence to defend their partner. And as hard as that was to swallow, Ryan, the man who’d just beaten some guy half to death for harassing Colin, was a victim here. He needed some way to point out the completely illogical reasoning Ryan was using to defend Dan.

“How often do you hit Dan?”

“What?” Ryan’s head jerked up. “I don’t!”

“Never?”

“Never!” 

“Not even when you’re upset?”

“No!”

“Not when you’re drunk?”

Ryan’s eyes tightened into a glare. “Not once!”

“Not when he doesn’t do what you ask?”

“No.”

“Not even if he hurts you?”

“I have never laid a hand on Dan.” As his tone bordered on dangerous, Ryan’s face took on an intense quality that Colin would have expected from someone who was quietly determining the best method of execution. It reminded him of the enraged mask that had appeared when he protected Colin in the alley earlier, and Colin found it difficult not to flinch. 

It clicked in Colin’s mind what he was seeing at that moment and he’d seen in the alley. Ryan wouldn’t let himself hurt Dan no matter what the other man did and instead buried his feelings into a simmering anger that had festered until it found an outlet. Instead of fighting back against his abuser, he found other people who deserved his wrath.

“Why?”

“What?” Ryan looked at Colin bewildered, all traces of rage gone.

“Why don’t you hit Dan?”

“Because it’s wrong! I love him.”

“So it’s never okay to hit someone you love... but Dan hits you.” Colin felt a little guilty about this line of questioning, but it had to be done for Ryan’s own good. He felt even worse at Ryan’s devastated look as two warring belief systems wreaked havoc in his mind. “Why are you defending him?”

Ryan dropped his head into his hands and took several shuddering breaths. Colin came around beside him, expecting to get pushed away for his troubles but instead finding his arms full of his distraught friend. Ryan clung to him, shaking, for what felt like hours as Colin rubbed his back gently. Finally, when Colin thought Ryan must have fallen asleep, he murmured, “I’m not protecting him, I’m protecting myself.”

=====.o0o.=====

“Run that by me again?”

Ryan finally pulled away from Colin’s embrace but still refused to make eye contact. He began slowly, then sped up into an impressive list of problems that he must have considered previously. “If I left Dan, I’d lose my job, probably get blacklisted and end my whole career. Improv and  _ Whose Line _ , that’s what makes me happy. I don’t want to give that up. Besides, there’s the whole logistics of it. I live with Dan, so I don’t have anywhere to go. I don’t have anyone to lean on; my family wants nothing to do with me. And Dan has control over all my assets; the money’s all tied up in some bank in Switzerland that I don’t even know how to get to. Hell, I’m not even sure it actually exists since Dan won’t let me even look at the finances.”

Colin bit his lip and rested a hand on Ryan’s leg, trying to convey that no matter what was wrong, he wasn’t alone. Hesitantly, he made the next suggestion. “You could report him. The courts would make sure you got your money back and that would be plenty to find your own place and tide you over.”

“Even if I did, it would be months, if not years before I saw a dime, and I’d have bills and lawyers to contend with. I can’t report him, Col. I just can’t. Even the idea of leaving him…” Ryan trailed off, and Colin was left to wonder if he was too afraid to report him or if he still cared too much about him. He wondered if Ryan even knew the answer to that. “No one can know about this, Colin. You have to promise me that.” 

“Ryan…”

“No, promise me! If Dan goes down,  _ Whose Line _ goes down with him. And I can’t – I just can’t…”

“Okay. I promise,” Colin relented.  _ Whose Line _ was Ryan’s world, the only thing he had in the tangled mess Dan had left him, and if he left Dan, he’d lose it, and if he exposed Dan, he’d lose it. “We’ll find another way.”

Ryan shifted away from him and quickly slipped on his shirt, cringing as the movement tested his sores. “I should get back. I’m on tomorrow.”

Colin knew Ryan had to film the following day. He was scheduled to do the show with him, as well as Josie and some new guy named Esten. Still, he’d give up the taping if he had to; there was no way he was going to let Ryan go back to Dan that night. There was a genuine fear in Ryan’s eyes that he wouldn’t admit to and more to the story than had been explained, of that he was certain. “Stay here.” 

“Is that a come on?” Ryan asked with a slight laugh. He thought Ryan might be trying to lighten the mood, but it only served to make Colin feel more awkward about the situation.

Despite himself, Colin felt his face go pink and shook his head. “No.”

“Dan will wonder where I’ve been.” 

“Let him wonder.” 

“He’s already mad. I don’t want to make things worse.”

“Ryan, it’s not safe for you to go back there.” Colin finally chanced the argument. 

Ryan took him by surprise and gave up the fight to go home. It was easier than Colin expected to get Ryan to take his bed. As he turned off the light and curled up on the couch, Colin decided that his friend must have been in a lot of pain to give in that easily. After all, he was layered in bruises before he got into a fight that evening. Bruises which Ryan had quietly admitted came from Dan for ‘not following the rules.’ Colin felt a wave of guilt settle in the pit of his stomach as his fears were confirmed, Greg’s words coming back to haunt him.

_ “I’m just saying it’s worth thinking about how much you’re getting away with and maybe consider how you’ve been able to get away with it.” _

=====.o0o.=====


	6. Action Replay

=====.o0o.=====

Colin was disappointed but not surprised to find that Ryan had managed to leave in the night without waking him. For a moment, he felt like a jilted lover but quickly shook that thought away. No matter what connection he and Ryan seemed to have, he wasn’t going to be able to undo the conditioning of years of abuse in one evening. He’d hoped Ryan would stay and trust him to sort something out, but he hadn’t expected it. Colin couldn’t blame him for being unable to take that leap of faith when he had no idea how to get his friend away from Dan without ruining everything else. Dan had been working for years to tangle the sticky web around his prey, and Colin felt like he was in over his head.

He was disappointed but not surprised to find that Ryan wasn’t at the studio after leaving earlier than necessary with a vague hope that they could talk. He stewed in mild frustration over the situation, feeling powerless to change anything. It was only when Ryan didn’t show for rehearsal that Colin started to worry about his wellbeing. Despite his familiarity with the show, Ryan had only missed one rehearsal in Colin’s recollection and that was likely due to last minute changes. Dan wasn’t anywhere to be seen, either, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t in the studio. Dan. Just the name sent waves of ire through his system. He was practically day dreaming about beating the man to a bloody pulp. He’d have to keep a lid on his emotions, though, or he’d undo everything Ryan had worked so hard for, not to mention ending his own career. 

Colin sighed, barely paying attention to the routine as he agonized over his friend. He didn’t know any way to contact Ryan, just as Dan intended, and couldn’t even be sure he was safe. He wasn’t in good shape last night and Colin somehow doubted that he had had a peaceful reunion with Dan when he got home.

He sighed once more, and Josie gave him a swift slap upside the head. “Get your head in the game,” she murmured. “It’s going to be hard enough with the new recruit; I don’t need you flaking off, too.”

Colin glanced over at Chip Esten who would be giving his first performance that night. The man could sing and wasn’t bad at any of their games. Colin would be excited to have him on board except that he acted like he’d already consumed fourteen cups of coffee before coming in to work. He bounded around the stage like a gazelle, and Colin had a feeling that his overenthusiasm was going to end badly. “I’m just worried about Ryan,” Colin admitted in a return whisper.

Josie smacked his back playfully and gave him a grin. “Ryan once came to work with the flu and gave a kick-ass performance. He won’t miss the taping.”

Colin smiled tightly because Josie didn’t know half of the things Ryan had gone to work with and still managed to perform. Instead, he tried to concentrate and throw himself into the rehearsal to chase away images of Dan digging a ditch in his back yard.

=====.o0o.=====

Ryan arrived promptly twenty minutes before taping was due to start and was seated on stage with five minutes to spare. Colin gave him a once over and frowned. To anyone else, Ryan looked every bit the part of an apologetic oversleeping actor. To Colin, Ryan was a nervous wreck barely keeping it together. His eyes were permanently fixed in a slight squint as he tried not to grimace, sweat was already beginning to collect at his hairline, and each of his movements was abnormally slow and stiff. His leg wasn’t even doing its usual jiggling, and Colin had to wonder if it was the pain or the lack of energy. His eyes were glassy from what Colin assumed and hoped was pain medication. He was clearly favoring one side, but he managed to make it look casual. Colin figured if anyone were to find out how much of a part Ryan was really acting, he’d have job offers around the block.

Ryan caught his frown and sheepishly examined his feet. “Sorry. I wanted-” 

“I understand,” Colin cut him off, trying to soften his gaze so that Ryan realized he wasn’t angry with him. Ryan licked his lips, looking like he was about to say something further, but Colin shook his head, choosing his words carefully. “Just tell me that it’s not any worse than when you left the room.”  _ Tell me Dan didn’t hurt you when you went back to him last night. _

Ryan’s eyes fell back to the floor and remained there. Colin opened his mouth, but Clive was already introducing them.

It was clear to everyone involved that Ryan was off his game that day. His movements and wit were a little slower than usual, but he put on a brave face and kept it together. With Chip’s rambunctious behavior, however, everyone looked slower than typical. Colin found himself in the unique position to be covering for Ryan’s uninspiring performance. Josie quickly picked up on this and also helped out, but Chip seemed oblivious to the tension on the set, probably because he wasn’t used to the other players.

Colin had to repeatedly remind himself that Chip and Josie had no idea what Ryan was going through and couldn’t be expected to treat him gently. Still, it was hard to repress his anger at Chip when he nearly knocked Ryan over during one of the skits. Colin found excuses to put his hands behind the tall man and keep him on his feet. He didn’t bother finding excuses to give a chilling glare to the newest player. Chip finally seemed to clue into his behavior and toned down his performance to maybe a three cups of coffee level. 

They were nearly through the taping, and Colin was just beginning to breathe a little easier. Ryan was sweating steadily, and his breath was catching more and more often. Colin passed an assessing glance his way and decided that he might just kidnap Ryan if he tried to go back to Dan that night. 

The last game of the night was Action Replay, a pretty rare game known for being physically taxing, and Colin fought back a groan. He should have been paying more attention during rehearsal. Maybe, just maybe, he’d have been able to convince them that Action Replay would not be a good game for that day. He wasn’t sure what Ryan was thinking as he kept his chin tucked down and his body stiff. 

Colin caught Josie’s arm as she moved to the center of the stage and kept his voice low. “Do me a solid and keep it simple, okay?”

Josie glanced toward Ryan who was standing rigidly at the edge of the stage, not adopting his normal crouched position. “I can try, but I don’t know about wildcard over there.” She nodded to Chip who was already prancing around the small stage. Colin cringed and nodded his thanks.

Colin didn’t know what scene they were acting out because the music really did block out the sounds of the stage. If he had to guess, he’d say a couple on their honeymoon from the way Chip swept Josie up in his arms and took several steps into an invisible room. He then broke into some breakdancing moves that had him flopping around on the floor. Colin began to wonder if Chip even remembered the principle of this game, in that someone would have to replicate what had already been done. Maybe Chip just hated him and was doing it on purpose; he didn’t know the man well enough to say. Josie, true to her word, shouted all kinds of things but was almost completely still for the whole sketch. 

Colin spared the briefest glance to Ryan as they walked out. As annoyed as he was with Chip, there was one distinct advantage in that there was no way Ryan would try to reenact Chip’s part in his current condition. He was fairly sure he wouldn’t have tried if he hadn’t been injured. Ryan trudged to the center of the stage and gave him a longsuffering look that the audience ate up. Colin gestured twice, and Ryan finally allowed himself to be pulled into Colin’s arms. Despite being beanpole thin, Ryan was heavy enough that carrying him in his arms was actually challenging. They only made it a couple steps before Ryan hissed and clenched his teeth in agony. Colin’s best guess was that the position had put a lot of pressure on Ryan’s ribs, and he was trying not to scream in distress. Lowering him back to his feet, Colin was fully prepared to break character and check on his friend, but Ryan was already setting up their scene. Colin followed suit, and they carefully made their way through the game. Usually, Colin enjoyed the surprise he garnered when he completed complex dance moves, but today, he could only think about finishing the taping and checking on Ryan.

Chip was chosen to read the credits, thankfully, and Colin tapped his foot impatiently until they were allowed to vacate the stage. Ryan stood like an old man, and Colin’s eyes were glued onto his form. He made it to the wings where he was just out of sight of the crowd and the camera before leaning heavily against the wall. Colin followed him and grasped his arm. “Ryan?”

The man looked worse than he had even just a minute ago and was growing paler by the second. “Can’t… breathe,” Ryan finally gasped. 

“Fuck,” grunted Colin, pulling Ryan close, wrapping an arm around his waist and tugging Ryan urgently down the hallway. “We’re going to the hospital,” he stated definitively and knew it was serious when Ryan didn’t argue. Instead, he could only listen to the sounds of Ryan gasping and wheezing as they hurried towards the exit. 

“Hey, is he alright?” Chip asked, appearing at their side, concern coloring his tone. Josie was right behind him.

“No,” Colin snapped. “Make yourself useful and help me.”

Josie hurried ahead, already offering to drive and promising to start the car as she skittered passed them. Chip took some of the weight and their trip outside was a whole lot faster. “What happened?”

Colin blatantly ignored his question. “If anyone asks, say you haven’t seen us. Okay?”

“Got it,” Chip agreed as they hoisted Ryan into the back seat of Josie’s car, intuitively deciding that Colin was someone he could trust even if he hadn’t been remotely friendly all day.

“Step on it,” Colin ordered as the door slammed shut. Both he and Ryan were piled into the back seat with Ryan laying mostly on top of him and still gasping for breath. They tore out of the parking lot and down the street at speeds that had to be illegal. Colin was suddenly very glad that Josie had appeared because this was not a one man operation, and Ryan was out for the count.

Colin tried to soothe the man struggling to breathe against his chest. He patted his head and kept assuring him that everything was going to be alright, that he wouldn’t let anything else happen to him. He might have just been doing it to drown out the sounds of Ryan’s labored breathing because he doubted Ryan was hearing anything he had to say. However much he disliked the sounds emitting from the other man’s throat, the silence was infinitely worse. 

“Oh god, Josie, he stopped breathing!”

=====.o0o.=====


	7. At the Hospital

=====.o0o.=====

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Colin growled with total honesty.

“Who?” Greg asked, looking over warily like he might be the him in reference. Colin rarely lost his temper, but he was positively furious as he paced the waiting room of the hospital. Greg had been his first call after Ryan was swept away to be treated. Josie had, after some persuasion, agreed to return to the studio and try to stall Dan if she could.

“Dan,” Colin clarified, enunciating the name like it was the worst curse word he could think of. “I’m going to break every bone in his evil little hands and then throw him into a volcano.”

“That’s quite a bit of wrath you’ve got built up there. I take it Dan’s the reason Ryan’s here?”

“I cannot confirm or deny that,” Colin responded petulantly.

“So Ryan finally told you and made you promise not to tell anyone.”

“I cannot confirm or deny that, either.”

“I see.”

Colin filled in Greg about the bar fight, and Ryan sneaking off in the middle of the night to go home. And despite wanting to keep Ryan’s secret safe, he even recited the reasons Ryan had given for staying with Dan. Technically, he’d kept his promise and hadn’t once admitted that Dan was hurting Ryan, but he might as well have been running a lighthouse for all he was illuminating to Greg’s intuitive ears. Colin felt wildly out of his league. He knew he needed all the help he could get, and Greg had been fully on board before Colin even knew there was a problem. “What am I going to do? How the hell do I get him out of there? If we don’t do something, he’s going to die.”

“Well, blackmail comes to mind,” Greg suggested. It was one of the first ideas that had come to Colin as well to keep this from going public. There was just one problem.

“All we have on Dan refuses to testify.”

“So you get video and use it against Dan. He’ll cave. He can’t afford the scandal.”

Colin snorted and finally sat down beside Greg, thankful that they were the only occupants of this particular waiting room. “Two problems, oh wise one. Firstly, Ryan doesn’t want the video out any more than Dan does because he feels it will ruin both of them. Secondly, we don’t have a video so we’d have to set something up and wait for Ryan to be hurt again. And that’s not an option.”

“If we did have a recording, it would only hurt Dan. The police wouldn’t release the name of the victim, so Ryan would be safe, and the charges against Dan could easily be enough to ruin him, even if they didn’t make it through court. Hell, with a video, they wouldn’t need testimony at all.”

“It’s irrelevant, Greg, because we don’t  _ have _ a video.”

“Okay, fine,” Greg continued on, eyes alight with a fresh idea. “Ryan said he hasn’t seen any of his wages. That’s fraud and the makings of a major lawsuit. We find the paper trail and blackmail Dan with that.”

“That could actually work.” Colin perked up at the suggestion. It was the first feasible solution he’d heard, and they wouldn’t have to bring up the abuse. “We get Dan to write all of us contracts for the next couple years and then Ryan is free to leave him, and we can all keep our jobs.”

“Count me out.” Greg shook his head. “Dan still doesn’t know that Ryan and I are friends. If this goes south, there’s no point in us both going down with the ship.” Colin couldn’t help but feel a little abandoned at this, but assented anyway. Hell, if things didn’t go according to plan and Colin was kicked off the show, then Greg would be Ryan’s only hope. 

“Are you here for Mr. Stiles?” A nurse asked, appearing from around the corner.

“We are,” Colin confirmed, standing quickly. They hadn’t heard anything from the staff since a nurse let them know that Ryan was breathing again, and it looked like he’d make it. While that news was immensely comforting, it was still difficult to fully relax without taking in Ryan’s face himself and personally seeing the rise and fall of his chest. 

“He’s awake.” The nurse led them down a hallway, first explaining what had happened in technical doctor babble and then making them promise to take it easy and only stay a few minutes so he could get his rest. Colin would have agreed to anything to get in that room. 

Ryan looked up when they entered the room, switching back and forth between Greg and Colin before settling on Colin. “What happened?”

“One of your cracked ribs snapped and punctured your lung. You were asphyxiating on your own blood,” Colin explained in a tone that said ‘I told you so’ without having to stoop to that level. “You should have let me take you to the hospital last night.”

“No, really, doc. Give it to me straight. Don’t sugar-coat it,” Ryan quipped. “So how long am I in for?”

“They think just the night,” Greg responded, “But they’re recommending you not work for a while. Or do anything physical, like... standing.”

Ryan groaned. “You guys should get out of here before Dan comes.”

“We’re running interference. He shouldn’t know you’re here,” Greg declared.

“He’s my emergency contact. He’ll have been notified by now. He’s probably on his way already.”

“Good,” Colin said decisively. “It’ll save me time when I hunt him down and kill him.”

Ryan got a deep frown. “Colin…”

“No, Ryan.” Colin snapped, his concern for Ryan’s safety completely fraying what was left of his patience. It felt strange and oddly cathartic to be shouting down at Ryan in the hospital bed. “Maybe it’s just brain damage from the lack of oxygen when you stopped breathing on the way here, but you don’t seem to realize that you almost died. It doesn’t matter how much you love each other when your life is in danger. You said yourself that he’s escalating; it’s just going to get worse until one day in the not too distant future he goes too far and you don’t survive. I can’t live with that knowledge.”

There was a long pause as Ryan contemplated, and Colin had hope that he’d finally gotten through to the man. After all, almost dying had a tendency to make people inspect their own life choices a lot closer. “I’m not exactly floating in options here.” 

“I told you that I’d find another way.”

“Well, apparently my trust was misplaced. Not even a day later, and you’ve already told Greg and who knows who else at the studio. Did you sell the story to the tabloids while you were at it?” Ryan’s voice was cutting, but Colin could tell he was doubtful of his own words. He was attempting to scare them away. 

“Whoa!” Greg jumped in. “He didn’t tell me. I’m the one that told Colin what I thought was going on between you and Dan. You being here just confirmed it. Colin didn’t say mum about that.”

Ryan looked to Colin then, a desperate hope gleaming in his eyes. Colin was happy to nod his affirmation. “Give us a minute, Greg?” Greg muttered something about coffee and hurried from the room. Colin turned his eyes back to Ryan’s form and for several minutes they simply looked at each other in a silence that should have been awkward, but wasn’t. Taking Ryan’s hand in his own, Colin found himself echoing the heated question from the previous evening. “Do you trust me?” 

“Yes.” Ryan said simply. 

“Then let me help you. I’ve got a plan but I need to know before we do anything else that you’re on board. You’ll leave him for good?”

Ryan paused, as if steeling himself and raised his eyes to meet Colin’s once again. He knew immediately what decision Ryan had come to, which was fortunate because Ryan didn’t say yes or no. Instead, his gaze drifted over Colin’s shoulder and left a cold feeling in his stomach. 

“Well?” Came a stinging voice from behind him. “Will you leave me for good?”

=====.o0o.=====


	8. Espionage

=====.o0o.=====

It was with a great deal of reluctance that Colin gave Dan the room. Dan was shooting him a look that would have felled a lesser man as he released Ryan’s hand and shuffled towards the door. Colin’s expression was even more lethal, but he kept his silence. It wouldn’t do to show his hand too early. If it had been Dan making the request, Colin would have flatly refused to leave, but Ryan had asked him, so he hesitantly departed. 

Colin leaned against the wall outside the room, relatively certain that Dan wouldn’t try anything in the hospital, but equally certain that Dan couldn’t be trusted alone with Ryan. Strain as he might, he couldn’t quite make out the whispered words, so he turned his attention to the task at hand. Whatever unsteady truce that Ryan had managed to work out with Dan in regards to his job was undeniably over after what Dan had walked in on. That meant Dan would be hunting for legitimate reasons to terminate his contract and setting traps. Colin doubted he’d make it through even one taping before he was officially fired. It didn’t give him much time.

As Greg came around the corner, Colin headed him off. “Dan’s in there,” He grunted, keeping his tone low. 

“You left him in there alone?” Greg asked incredulously, and Colin was glad that he wasn’t the only one that felt the need to keep an eye on Dan. 

“He wouldn’t try anything here.”  _ I think. _ The extra words hung in the air unspoken. “Stay here and make sure nothing happens to Ryan; it’s probably best if you keep out of Dan’s sight,” Colin ordered. 

Greg quirked an eyebrow, obviously not expecting him to voluntarily leave. “And what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to dig up some blackmail.”

Greg wished him luck and Colin hurried from the building, catching a cab back to the studio and slipping in unnoticed. Aside from the guard at the entrance to the lot, who recognized him and let him through without a word, there was practically no security to deal with.  _ Whose Line _ wasn’t the kind of show that generally warranted extra security details and no one had any questions about one of the actors on set, even if almost everyone had already left. 

Colin didn’t really have a plan in mind, but he did have a destination. Dan’s office was bound to have something he could use. He glanced around when he got there, knowing that his mere presence would raise concerns, and tried the knob. It was, as expected, locked. He’d harbored a vain hope that Dan would have rushed out of the building to get to Ryan and left his door open and his computer on, but that would have been far too convenient. He contemplated breaking the glass of the door, but that would draw attention and certainly tip Dan off. He jiggled the knob and kicked the door in frustration, ransacking his brain for another plan before his window of opportunity closed.

“Um…. What are you doing?” 

Colin whipped around and tried to look innocent. He rarely saw Mark Leveson, but his office was nearby, and he must have overheard Colin’s feeble attempts to break in. “Just looking for Dan.”

Mark gave him a look that he wasn’t buying it for a second. “He’s at the hospital with Ryan.”

Colin flew through what he knew about Mark. The man was ostensibly best friends with Dan and had known him since childhood. If he recalled correctly, they’d gone to college together and Mark had been in on  _ Whose Line is it Anyway _ since before it was picked up on radio. There was pretty much no one worse that he could have run into. Still, his brain whirred into action, there was no harm trying to turn him for the cause since he was screwed either way. He had no idea how the other man would react, and knew nothing about him except that he apparently liked Dan and that was enough to earn Colin’s disdain. “How long have you known Dan?”

Mark let out a surprised breath at the question. “Practically forever.”

“And Ryan?”

“About five seconds longer than Dan’s known him. I was with Dan when we discovered him.”

“Hmm,” Colin hummed contemplatively. “And are you surprised that he’s in the hospital?”

Mark visibly stiffened and responded with a cautious, “What do you mean?”

“I mean you spent the last six years watching everything that led up to this and didn’t put a stop to it. Ryan nearly died today.” Guilt flashed across Mark’s face like a glowing beacon and Colin knew he had him. Greg wasn’t the only one who’d seen this coming. “Help him now.”

“What do you want?” Mark whispered, sinking into himself as he shifted awkwardly from foot to foot.

“Do you have keys to Dan’s office?”

Mark nodded slowly, then extracted a key ring from his pocket. Colin held open his hand expectantly, but Mark didn’t release them immediately. “I tried to warn him what he was like.”

“Well, it wasn’t good enough,” Colin snapped bitterly.

“You know how stubborn Ryan is, and they both seemed so happy and in love, at first. I thought maybe things would turn out differently this time. Ryan never seemed like the type to put up with the kind of stuff I would.”

Colin jerked his eyes to Mark’s face as realization dawned. “You were in a relationship with Dan.”

Mark just dropped the keys into his hand and walked away. Colin watched him go and decided that he still knew nothing about the man. 

Shaking his head, Colin concentrated on the task at hand. He first checked through Dan’s desk and then made use of the numerous keys to start browsing through the filing cabinets. He wasn’t sure what he’d hoped to find, perhaps some big corporate scandal, but everything was meticulously organized and seemed entirely legit. So he fell back on Greg’s suggestion and looked through Ryan’s records for banking information, payment records, and his performance contract. 

Colin was just finishing up restoring everything to its rightful place when he caught voices coming down the hallway. In a flash, Colin slipped to the side of the door and turned off the light, hoping to be bypassed, but luck was not on his side as he identified one of the voices as Dan’s. He looked about the room for a place to hide. There was a closet which should be big enough to fit him.

“Hang on, Dan, I wanted to show you something first.” Mark’s voice filtered through the door as Colin darted across the room. 

“Tomorrow,” Dan argued, voice dripping with fatigue. None of the keys fit into the lock on the closet!

“It’ll just take a minute.” Mark coaxed him away from the door. “Come into my office.”

Fortunately, Dan’s footsteps could be heard moving away, and Colin breathed a sigh of relief as Mark’s door clanged shut further down the hallway. Cautiously, as if Dan may have been playing a trick on him, Colin peaked out the door to check for signs of people. Finding it clear, he locked the door behind him and took off at a run away from the office, only slowing down when he rounded a corner. He clutched the papers to his chest as his heart beat wildly; he felt like a real spy making a clean getaway.

A quick call to the hospital confirmed that visiting hours were over, which was probably why Dan returned to the studio. Colin went back to his hotel room to study over his prize. 

=====.o0o.=====

Colin awoke to the sound of pounding on his door. He sighed and glanced at the clock, finding that he’d managed to oversleep, probably from the late night of worrying and reading over contracts. After tugging up a pair of pants and rubbing at his eyes, Colin opened the door. Greg pushed into his room without an invitation.

“I’m taking Ryan’s place for filming today.”

Colin nodded and set about fixing himself some coffee. “Kay.”

“Did you find anything last night?”

Colin presented Greg with the pile of papers he’d acquired. “Despite his many flaws, Dan appears to be an honest businessman. The financial records show that Ryan is being paid to an account that is in his name. I’ll have Ryan call them and confirm that the money is there, but so far it seems like we can’t make a case out of this. The good news is that we now know where it’s being kept, and we can finally give Ryan access to his own money. That will go a long way towards helping him get away from Dan.”

Colin wasn’t sure Greg had completely registered his comments as he nodded away while reading Ryan’s contract. “Holy cow!” he exclaimed. “Is this how much he’s being paid? Because I think I’m getting ripped off.”

“Well, he did say he was getting paid like a rock star.”

“No kidding,” Greg grumbled. 

“Concentrate. Dan walked in on me trying to convince Ryan to call it quits with him, so I’ve only got until Dan finds a way to fire me to find some blackmail. I’m sure you can imagine which one will be easier.”

“Today’s the last day of taping. He’ll probably just wait and not renew your contract.”

“I’m thinking that he’s more likely to wait for me in the parking lot with a baseball bat,” Colin sighed. The phone rang, and Colin just glared at it for the first two rings, certain that it was bearing bad news. Still, good or bad, Colin figured it was probably important for someone to try to get ahold of him at the hotel, and he grudgingly picked up the receiver. “Mochrie.”

“This is Patterson.” Colin’s felt his gut clench and wished he’d let the phone keep ringing. He could only think of one reason Dan would be calling him now. “I’m calling to inform you that we are terminating your contract as of today. You may come in to collect anything you left at the studio, but you may not return afterward.”

“What? Why?” Colin demanded. He wasn’t at all surprised by the news, or even by how quickly it happened, but he still hoped there was a way that he could wiggle out of it somehow. He needed more time if he was going to help Ryan. 

“Theft of confidential documents.” It only took Colin freezing for a moment for Dan to hang up on him. Colin set the phone down in the cradle and sat on the bed.

“What was that all about?” Greg asked immediately. 

“That was the axe descending upon my neck. He found out I rummaged through his office.”

“Ouch,” Greg sympathized. “That was fast. How’d he even figure it out so quickly? Did anyone see you?”

Colin cringed. “Just Mark.”

“Mark? As in Mark Leveson? As in Dan’s right hand?” Greg’s voice took the sarcastic tone that he was so famous for. “Well, gee, I wonder how Dan found out, then.”

“I didn’t think he’d say anything. He gave me keys to Dan’s office and even provided a distraction so I could get out of there.” Greg looked skeptical, but Colin was still convinced that Mark had kept his presence a secret. But if Mark didn’t say anything, and Greg certainly hadn’t, then how had Dan known that he’d been in his office? He was absolutely certain he’d left everything exactly as he found it. “I wonder if he has a security camera in there. I mean, I know the studio doesn’t really use them, but maybe he’s got his own.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” Greg nodded. “Paranoid prick.”

“I’m going to have to go back in,” Colin decided. “I’ll wait until you guys are filming. Dan hates leaving the set during a taping.”

“Speaking of which,” Greg stood and straightened his clothes as he made for the door. “I’ve got to get going.”

Colin grunted in acknowledgement. Then a thought occurred to him. “Do you know how to pick a lock?”

“I thought you had keys.”

“Not all of them.”

Greg shook his head and left with the parting words of, “Try to not do anything too stupid, okay?”

“I make no promises.”

=====.o0o.=====


	9. Seeing Red

=====.o0o.=====

Colin’s first stop was to check on Ryan. He felt like he was once again doing his spy impersonation as he snuck around corners and peered into windows in an attempt to avoid Dan. The producer was usually present for rehearsals, but he was also playing the loving boyfriend, so he couldn’t be sure if his friend was alone. When Colin slipped into the proper hospital room, Ryan looked up enthusiastically. 

“Oh, thank god. You’re finally here. Tell me you’re taking me away.”

Colin quirked an eyebrow. “Well, I seem to be missing my valiant steed.”

“Don’t make me laugh.” Ryan cringed. 

“Is it that bad in here?”

“Worse,” Ryan moaned. “The food is terrible, the scenery never changes, I’m already going out of my mind with boredom, and I think I’m developing a bedsore.”

“You’ve been here one night.” Colin folded his arms over his chest, calling on all of his acting chops to keep a straight face. 

“And the infernal beeping! I’ve figured out what hell is like, and I’m prepared to straighten my life out,” Ryan continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Dan stopped by earlier but said I’d have to wait until after the taping for him to take me home.” Ryan glanced over at a single red rose lain atop the beeping machine he’d just been cursing. 

“You’re joking!” Colin spluttered. “You’re not seriously going home with him.” Instantly, the mood in the room darkened, and Colin wished that he hadn’t brought it up so he could enjoy Ryan’s playful banter for just a few more minutes. Instead, he was greeted by a quiet and morose tone.

“What else am I supposed to do, Colin?”

“For starters, I think I’ve got a way to access your money.” 

Colin presented Ryan with the documents that he’d obtained, and they spent some time sorting through them. Ryan called the bank and after some awkward discussions and dozens of security questions, Ryan was authorized to make changes. After this, Ryan seemed to lose some of his steam and looked to Colin for suggestions. Colin prompted him to remove Dan as an approved party of the account. The banker didn’t seem to think it was possible, so after a lengthy discussion, they agreed to open a new account and transfer all of his funds into this solo account. This provoked another series of questions and verifications. The banker wanted him to come in and sign off on the changes, but Ryan calmly stated that he was currently in the hospital in a different country and that wouldn’t be possible. Besides, hadn’t the original account been opened without his signature?

Ryan was practically hoarse and showing imminent signs of losing his temper by the time they managed to get everything sorted out. They’d had to use pay stubs and banking information to prove that the money was his and his alone, and then compromised on the signature by promising to mail in the proper forms within the next week. At which point, he would have full access to his funds and receive a checkbook from the bank. For the time being, the account would remain frozen.

Colin got Ryan some water and sat with him in silence for a few minutes when they finally finished sorting out Ryan’s money issues. Colin debated whether or not he ought to discuss the implications of his pending wealth. He could leave Dan any time now. He could pay for a lawyer. He could quit working. He could move wherever he wanted and buy a house. “Still no chance of you pressing charges?”

“Not the slightest,” Ryan affirmed with a stubborn set to his jaw. 

“Are you even going to be able to work with Dan after you break up with him?” Colin asked quietly, the words slipping through his lips before he could think better of them. It was a question that he’d been pondering since Ryan said he wouldn’t give up the show. The bigger question was whether or not Dan would be able to work with Ryan, but that wasn’t something either of them could answer at this point.

His friend didn’t reply at first, and Colin wondered if he had even dared to contemplate that far ahead. “I’m not letting him take this from me,” Ryan finally responded, not looking in Colin’s direction.

There was another silence, but it wasn’t awkward as Colin sat at the foot of the bed, tapping out a beat on the railing. Taping would be underway soon and he should get moving if he hoped to use the time while Dan was distracted. Still, part of him didn’t want to leave. He suddenly thought back to the hug that they’d shared at last year’s wrap party and felt a longing for that closeness. 

“How did you get these documents anyway?” Ryan asked, playing with the contract sitting on his lap.

“Illegally,” Colin admitted. “It’s why Dan fired me this morning.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised.” Ryan frowned. “What happened to your plan?”

“Still a work in progress. Dan’s office was cleaner than I expected.”

“I don’t suppose you want to let me in on your plan.” Ryan waited a beat before sighing. “So you don’t think I’d approve.” Colin got up and headed for the door, only to be interrupted by a quiet, almost timid comment. “One of the drawers in Dan’s desk has a fake bottom. I don’t know what’s inside, but maybe that will help.”

Colin nodded. “Thanks.” He paused once more at the door. “I’ll come back to get you. Please… please, don’t go home with Dan.”

=====.o0o.=====

Colin had no problems sneaking back into Dan’s office after confirming the man was preoccupied on set. The activity in the hallways died down near the offices, so it was relatively simple to slip back into the room using the key Mark had given him.

Once inside, Colin sat behind Dan’s desk and gazed around the room. It looked exactly as it had the day before. Sparsely decorated, there were three large filing cabinets, two chairs opposite to the large desk, a small table in the corner with a vase on it, a wastebasket, a small bookshelf, and a painting hanging from the wall. Colin went for the vase first, but it was empty and clearly nothing more than decoration. He crossed over to the bookshelf and started stripping books away. It didn’t take long for him to uncover a set of fake book bindings masking a video camera. He removed the tape, turned off the camera and set it back up the way he’d found it. Now there was no proof that he’d been there.

Next, Colin set about searching through the drawers to find the fake bottom. It took longer than he’d hoped and he was beginning to get nervous about Dan returning during a break when he finally managed to pop open the bottom of the middle drawer on his third try. Inside was a small compartment containing a single silver key. Colin’s eyes darted to the closet that hadn’t opened with any of Mark’s keys.

The key slid smoothly into the lock and the closet door clicked open. It was small inside, barely large enough for him to stand in had it been empty, but plenty large enough to hide Dan’s skeletons. Colin stacked two boxes of VHS tapes on top of each other by the door, returned the key to the hidden compartment of the desk and closed the closet before carefully making his escape.

“They’re taking a break. I’ll try to keep them distracted.” A warning voice came from behind him as he slunk into the hallway, startling him enough that he nearly dropped his load. Colin swung around to see Mark. He nodded and tossed back the keys before speeding up on his way out of the building.

When Colin was back at his hotel, he dug through the set of tapes, all neatly labelled by date, with no small measure of trepidation over what he’d find on them. He wasn’t sure whether it would be worse to find nothing or having to watch the something he found. One date caught his attention, and he popped it into the VCR. It was dated several days before Ryan and Dan’s interview on the Day Time Talk Show was broadcast and possibly the same day the interview was shot.

His supposition was proved accurate when the film started and Dan came storming into the office. “My god, Ryan, are you fucking him or something?”

Ryan came in at a much slower place, like he wished he could avoid the room entirely, his timid expression sitting oddly on his normally confident face. He closed the door behind him. “Of course not, Dan. I’d never cheat on you. I love you.”

“Then what the hell is your obsession with Mochrie? You know, before your little stunt during the interview, I was going to propose.” Dan slammed down a ring on his desk, undoubtedly the same one Ryan had been wearing since the start of filming this season.

Ryan’s eyes were glued to the ring as he responded to the question. “I like working with him. He’s good at his job, and he’s good for the show.”

“That’s my call to make. You’ve put me in a bad position, and you deserve to be punished.” It was like a line straight out of a bad porno and so contrary to the romantic notions of proposal that Colin would have thought it almost funny if it weren’t for the expression on Ryan’s face. He looked defeated, resigned to his fate.

“I understand.” He stripped off his shirt as Dan pulled off his belt and proceeded to secure Ryan’s arms behind his back.

Colin was suddenly unsure if he could or should be watching this. He already felt more than a little nauseated by the actions that were unfolding, and he wasn’t sure he’d make it through the whole tape. And while it had all seemed a good idea in theory, he hadn’t taken into account that he would have to view the material in order to use it as blackmail. Or rather, he had known but didn’t want to acknowledge the implications.

While Colin’s mind whirled in doubts and indecision, the footage continued to play. As the scene turned violent with Dan letting loose a flurry of fists and belittling remarks, Colin found a fury building up inside of him that he didn’t know he possessed. Colin was angry with Ryan for allowing the attack to happen and doing nothing to stop it. No matter how trapped he may have felt, it was still difficult for Colin to believe that his strong friend would permit himself to be hurt without lifting a finger to stop it. Colin was fuming at himself for being the indirect cause of Ryan’s pain. Ryan was clearly accepting this punishment in an effort to help Colin, as misdirected as that notion may be, and would continue to do so on Colin’s behalf. But mostly, Colin was livid with Dan who thought that his violence was somehow acceptable. And about a hundred times worse in Colin’s mind, Dan thought violence against Ryan was acceptable.

Logically, he’d known what Dan was doing for a while, and had even had it confirmed by the marks left on his body, but seeing the actual act loosened whatever control he’d had over his anger. Dan hammered in the final nail of his coffin as he was working off Ryan’s pants and bending him over the desk, despite protests from Ryan about not wanting to do it when he was angry like that. Colin had had enough. From that point on, all he remembered was seeing red.

=====.o0o.=====


	10. The Police

Colin snapped back into to awareness. Dan was on the floor, bleeding freely from what looked like a broken nose, and looking up at him with no small measure of fear. Colin wanted to return to beating the living daylights out of him, but there was a strong pair of arms wrapped around his chest that tugged him away. Greg swam into his vision, gripping his shoulders and yelling at him to stop. 

When Colin collected himself and ended his struggles, Dan stood cautiously. The person holding him back turned out to be Chip, who released him only after a nod from Greg, and then passed a box of tissues to Dan who used them to pinch his nose. He winced as he pressed it against the broken bone, and Colin felt smug.

“Is this about you getting fired? I’m calling the police.” Dan grumbled plenty loud enough for them all to hear.

“What the hell was that?” Greg demanded when Dan left the room, followed by a bewildered Chip, who was shooting glances at Colin like he was worried for his sanity. Colin didn’t blame him.

“I just lost it.” 

“That much is obvious.”

“I watched one of his security tapes. What he did to Ryan…” Colin was shaking his head. He thrust his hands into his coat’s deep pockets to find the video tape taken from the bookshelf which had incriminating evidence of him stealing from the office. He brought out the tape and pushed it into Greg’s hands. “Destroy this, would you? And then come and bail me out of jail.”

“Like I haven’t heard that one before.”

=====.o0o.=====

It was a long, long night with the police. First, there was an aggravating session with two irritating cops who wanted to know every minute detail of his day and his motivation for attacking Dan. Since the truth would result in more trouble for himself and certainly piss off Ryan even more than he already was, Colin settled on telling Dan’s story. He was incredibly angry about being fired and took it out on Dan. He denied any knowledge of stealing confidential documents and hoped for the best.

It was already late when he was finally escorted to a cell and given a blanket, and the prospect of an early morning bail hearing was not enough to comfort him for being trapped at the police station overnight. His one phone call was wasted trying to get ahold of Greg, who did not answer. Colin found it nearly impossible to sleep and rolled out of bed feeling exhausted in the morning. 

His lawyer, provided by the department, was about as useless as he’d been the night before. Colin bit the bullet and pled guilty to the assault charge, pleasantly surprised that his spotless record eased his way into the judge’s good graces. He was court-ordered to take anger management courses, keep at least 150 meters from Dan Patterson at all times, and was placed on probation for the next year. After briefly discussing what that would entail when he returned to Canada with his lawyer, Colin was free to leave. 

He made it about ten steps away from the courthouse before being picked up by the same pair of police officers that had arrested him the day before. “You’re joking,” He grumbled as they escorted him to their car. 

“We found some… disturbing recordings when we searched your hotel room,” the woman said as she twisted around in her seat. “We’re hoping you can shed some light on them.”

“You searched my room?” Colin thought he might sound like a petulant child whose parents had invaded his privacy. He couldn’t help it. Ryan was really going to kill him now.

“Mr. Patterson was also seeking to charge you with theft of confidential material. We needed to investigate this claim.” 

Colin let out a lengthy sigh and allowed himself to be brought back into the interrogation room for a repeat performance of the previous evening but with a lot more honesty. He explained that he was looking for evidence against Dan Patterson to prove that he was abusing his boyfriend in hopes of finding a way to separate them. He even admitted that viewing the video was the real reason he had lashed out at Dan. 

As guilty as he felt for what he saw as a betrayal of Ryan’s trust, Colin couldn’t help but feel like something good might come out of all of this if Dan was put behind bars where he belonged.

=====.o0o.=====

At the insistent knocking, Colin grudgingly got up and let in Greg, then returned to his bed and hid under the covers again. Greg took this as an opportunity to speak uninterrupted instead of a hint to leave. “Man, you are on Ryan’s shit-list now. You punch out his boyfriend and turn over those tapes to the cops? Are you trying to blow your chances?”

Colin sat up annoyed, sweeping the covers down. “First of all, I don’t need any chances with Ryan because I’m not gay. Secondly, I didn’t turn over the tapes, they searched my room and confiscated them.” He rolled over and hid his face from Greg who was still standing at the foot of the bed. “And for the record, Dan fucking deserved a lot worse than what I gave him.”

“Yeah, he probably earned everything you would have given him had Chip and I not pulled you off him. The point remains: you fucked up.”

“I know.” Colin muttered.

“So how are you going to fix it?” Greg pursued, tugging down the blankets so Colin couldn’t hide. 

“I’m not.” Colin yanked the blankets back up. “He went through years of Dan’s shit so he could keep  _ Whose Line _ and in one day, I messed everything up for him. Without Dan, there is no  _ Whose Line _ . Besides, I don’t even have a way of getting ahold of Ryan outside the studio.”

“Details like that would definitely be on his pay stubs.”

“I was a little preoccupied to properly gather stalking material.”

“Fortunately, your best buddy Greg was looking out for you.” Greg smiled broadly and dropped a piece of paper onto Colin’s lap. “I picked these up from Ryan when I went to explain why you wouldn’t be coming to visit him at the hospital. I know, I know, you don’t deserve me.”

“Thank you, Narcissus.” Colin said as he picked up the pay stub and immediately pinpointed Ryan’s address and phone number. “I’m not sure he’ll want to hear from me now, though. I’m not sure he’s ever going to forgive me for this one.”

“Trust me, broheim, Ryan wants to forgive you. Just call him.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

Greg didn’t respond, just slipped out the door with a wave of his hand.

Greg left England the following morning with a brief explanation that he had other work back home that was due to start in a couple days. He gave a dirty look when Colin admitted that he hadn’t yet called Ryan, but left with a cheerful hug when Colin promised to keep him updated. Colin, for his part, decided to stay a little longer at his own expense to see how things went with Dan and to lend a hand if needed. Colin did call Ryan that day, despite his misgivings, but after the initial hello, Ryan hung up on him. He couldn’t really blame him.

=====.o0o.=====


	11. Confession

=====.o0o.=====

By the next afternoon, Colin had confirmed from the police that Dan was under arrest for multiple counts of aggravated assault and battery, and that while he had made bail that morning, he was not allowed any contact with Ryan or their shared home. Colin’s stomach dropped, and he wanted to scream at the officer for the complete inadequacy of their safety precautions. The only thing that stood between Ryan and Dan was a stern warning not to go to his own home?

Cutting the connection, Colin dialed Ryan’s home phone and fidgeted in his seat as it gave him an answering machine. He slammed down the phone and jogged out of the building without a second thought, hailing a taxi and rattling off the address. The cabby wanted to make friendly chatter, but Colin shot him down with instructions to hurry. All the while, a tingling sense of danger in the back of his mind was growing louder and louder. 

Throughout the entire ride over, Colin’s mind had come up with a dozen situations that he could walk in on, none of them pleasant. He’d contemplated the side of Dan that was both crazy and possessive, a side that he’d only vaguely seen until it came at him full force on the security footage. He thought back to the expression on Dan’s face as he made his demands, expecting complete obedience. Dan saw Ryan as a possession and he’d do anything to keep control over what was his. What would he do if Ryan refused to obey?

The scenario that greeted Colin upon his arrival was not one of the many he’d imagined. Smoke was emitting from every orifice of the house with flames poking out of two windows and more to be seen inside. A small crowd was gathered around outside, but no police or fire trucks had arrived at the scene yet. 

“Call the cops!” he shouted at the driver as he flung himself from the car and ran to the building. Colin paused for a brief moment at the foot of the porch to consider what he was doing. He wasn’t trained, had no gear, and the fire was spreading quickly, and although he couldn’t see Ryan anywhere, that didn’t mean he was inside. On the other hand, there was no way that the fire was a coincidence. Dan was undoubtedly bearing a major grudge against Ryan after what he’d view as a betrayal, even if Ryan had nothing to do with it.

Mind made up, Colin tugged his coat over his face and pulled his sleeves over his hands before trying the handle, hot but unlocked. He supposed that when you’re an arsonist, locking doors suddenly doesn’t seem all that important. Someone behind him shouted for him to stop, but no one made a move. He pushed the door open and was caught by a gust of smoke and flame which flew towards the new source of oxygen. Sucking some up, Colin found himself coughing as he entered. A cat dashed out the now open doorway. 

“Ryan!” he tried to shout, but the smoke in his lungs made it difficult. He coughed and cleared his throat before trying again. “Ryan!” Colin moved through the living room, which appeared to have taken the brunt of the damage and crossed over to the stairs. He’d rather not go up there if he could help it. He didn’t want to get trapped. “Ryan!”

“In here!” The reply was distinctly coming from the second floor. 

Cursing, Colin made his way up the stairs, hugging the wall as he went, fearful of the structural instability of the building. “Ryan?” He tried again. Coughing was all he heard in return, but he was able to pinpoint the room at the end of the hall through the billowing black smoke.

Inside, he found Ryan tied by his hands to the frame of the bed. His wrists were raw and bleeding from struggling and the bed had been dragged several feet, but a grin was plastered on his face. “Man, am I glad to see you.”

Wishing he had a knife, Colin set about undoing the intricate set of knots that was binding Ryan to the bed. “So I take it you’re not mad at me anymore?”’

“Mad?”

“Well, I did assault your boyfriend and indirectly got him arrested.”

“Colin, he tried to set me on fire,” Ryan explained as he attempted to wiggle out of the loosened rope. “I wouldn’t be mad if you knocked him out with a tire-iron and shipped him off to Australia. In fact, I’d take that as good news.”

“Well, I’m glad we finally agree.” Colin managed to get the knots undone and helped Ryan to his feet as the sounds of sirens permeated the house. They hurried down the hallway, only to find their exit blocked by flames creeping up the stairs. They were both coughing again.

“Is there another way out of here?” 

Ryan headed back to the bedroom. “You can get on the roof from the window in here.”

“That’ll have to do.”

Together, they pried open the window and crawled onto the porch’s roof. The crowd made noises at their appearance and soon a fireman was shouting at them to stay still. While he set a ladder up to them, Ryan leaned on Colin, breathing the fresh air in deep gulps in between fits of coughs. Colin himself was already bent double and trying to clear his airways. “I hope Cleo made it out.”

“The cat? Yeah, she ran off somewhere.”

“I’m pretty sure this was not what the doctor had in mind when she told me to take it easy.”

The firefighter coaxed them onto the ladder and Colin made Ryan go first before descending himself. They were led over to an ambulance that had arrived as they were climbing down and sat in the back where masks were placed over their faces. 

“Is anyone else in the building?” the fireman asked urgently. They both shook their heads and the man ran off to join his comrades in dousing the flames. 

“I’m sorry about your house,” Colin said as he gazed into the flames. Police were taping off the area and pushing people back as the firefighters set to work putting out the fire. A detective was arguing with an EMT over whether or not they should wait to talk to them.

Ryan shook his head and lifted the mask to talk. “It was Dan’s house. Everything in there belonged to him, even that stupid cat.” Colin couldn’t make out exactly what Ryan said after that because he’d put his mask back on, but it sounded an awful lot like, “even me.”

=====.o0o.=====

After patching up Ryan’s wrists with a first aid kit and checking them both over thoroughly, the EMTs were persuaded that they did not need any additional medical assistance by an increasingly irritable Ryan and a dismissive Colin. 

That was when the police officers swooped in like a pair of vultures and separated them to take their statements. Whatever explanation that managed to tumble out of Colin’s mouth must have alarmed the officers because they were soon being escorted back to the police station, offered coffee and repeating their stories again. Colin was getting damn sick of that police station. 

Colin sighed in relief when he was finally brought back into the same office as Ryan, who was sitting on a couch looking more spent than anything else. He tried to catch Ryan’s eye but he was too busy staring into his coffee cup like it was some Picasso painting.

“Based on your testimony,” the detective who interviewed Ryan was saying as he flitted through a pack of papers, “we’ve placed a warrant out for Patterson’s arrest. In the meantime, we don’t feel it’s safe for either of you to go unprotected at this time. We’re assigning you a protective detail, an officer who will stay with you until Mr. Patterson has been taken into custody. Where are you staying?”

“At a hotel,” Colin volunteered.

“If Patterson knows where to find you, I suggest you switch hotels.” Colin nodded, so the detective turned to Ryan. “And you, Mr. Stiles? Where will you be staying?”

Ryan didn’t say anything, and Colin clued in that he still didn’t have access to his money and had now lost his house, which would leave him feeling like he had nowhere to go. “He’ll be staying with me,” Colin answered for him.

When Ryan didn’t object, the officer nodded slowly. “That will certainly make things easier.”

They were driven back to Colin’s hotel by a uniform cop who introduced himself as Buscelli and promised that someone would be watching them at all times. It sounded more like a threat to Colin than protection, but he graciously thanked the man anyway. Both Ryan and the officer came in to help him gather his bags, even though there were only two things to carry, and Buscelli made a point of walking in front of him and standing guard. Colin decided that he behaved rather like a dog.

Afterward, Colin asked Buscelli for a recommendation of where else they could stay and the man eagerly helped pick out a location and drove them there, just a few blocks from a nice park, rambling on about the one time he’d stayed at the hotel because his neighbor’s apartment had caught fire while they were cooking. Colin tuned him out and kept a close eye on Ryan, instead, who hadn’t said a single word since they left the police station, and didn’t even seem to react to the callously dropped comment about housefires. Colin held out some hope that when they were alone, he would open up.

A half a pizza and a whole movie later, Ryan was still unresponsive to his prodding. In fact, aside from a muttered “thank god” when Buscelli left, Ryan hadn’t vocalized anything all evening. And because Ryan also refused to meet his gaze, Colin didn’t know what was running through his mind. He could guess that it probably had something to do with Dan. Or maybe he was thinking about any part of his life that he’d lost over the last couple weeks. 

What did you say to someone whose lover of six years tried to kill them? They don’t make Hallmark cards for ‘Sorry for the Attempted Murder.’ He could just see Dan picking one up, though, and Ryan ducking his head like he was somehow at fault while accepting an apology that would never be grand enough. Since the words weren’t there and an invitation to talk about it seemed woefully inadequate, Colin didn’t say much of anything and Ryan said even less. As Colin got ready to turn in early after an exhausting day, he even felt a little guilty over using his toothbrush because Ryan didn’t even have so much as a toothbrush anymore. 

Finally, he went with his instincts, and tugged Ryan to his feet before enveloping him in a hug. There was no hesitation before Ryan responded by pulling him closer and burying his face in Colin’s shoulder. Ryan clung to him like he was the last thing in the world, and Colin realized with a cringe that it wasn’t far from the truth. They stood wrapped in each other’s arms for a long enough time that it would have been embarrassing in a different scenario or with different people, but Colin wasn’t prepared to deny the only comfort he could give.

When they finally pulled apart, Ryan gave him a small smile, rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck and crawled into the queen sized bed nearest to the window. Colin turned off the lights and slipped into the bed closest to the door, folding his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling as if it could give him answers about what he should be doing. 

It was a long time before Ryan started talking into the darkness, long enough that Colin thought he was asleep and nearly jumped at the sound of his voice carrying across the room even at the low pitch he was using. “You know I was the one that asked him out on our first date?”

Colin opened his mouth to respond, but Ryan was already continuing, intent on telling his story. “He kept making up these meetings for us to discuss something or other that didn’t really need discussing, and we’d end up just going out and talking for hours. So, finally, I asked him if he wanted to go out for a date. He was really sweet, you know? He’d bring me chocolates all the time and pass me dirty notes during meetings just for the hell of it. I’d never really been in a serious relationship before, and it was fun.

“But as things got more serious between us, we became exclusive, I moved into his house… and he started to get more and more jealous and possessive. And he was always with me, at work, at home, driving me places… I stopped keeping up with people because it always seemed to make him angry when I wanted to go out by myself, like he thought I was cheating on him or something. 

“The first time he hit me, it hadn’t even been a year. I was in shock, couldn’t believe what had happened and did nothing to defend myself. He apologized immediately and profusely, and I forgave him. Only, it kept happening. And after a while, I was ashamed, so I kept trying to hide it. I kept telling myself that he only did it when he was angry and if I could just stop making him angry…” Ryan snorted. “I know it sounds stupid, but I was in love with the guy for so long before and things turned ugly so slowly that I hardly noticed it was happening.”

Colin wanted to say something, assure him that it wasn’t stupid, tell him that it would be all right, but he knew he would break the spell that had allowed Ryan to talk about his problems if he interfered. 

“Most of the time… most of the time, I was in love with him, he was in love with me and we were happy together, or so I thought. Most of the time, Mark’s warnings just seemed over the top because we were happy. Did you know they dated? I never knew until a year after the fact, but he called things off with Mark because he met me. Made me feel like a homewrecker, but Mark never said anything about it but thank you. You’d think that would’ve been my first clue.

“Things were okay until I met Greg. Greg always wanted to push my limits, point out when I was being stupid, and just do general Greg things. I couldn’t stand him but couldn’t leave him alone either, because he was the only one who’d ever talk to me. Everyone else was afraid. He dared me to sneak out one evening with him, then insulted me when I refused. I met up with Greg just to spite him and that was the start of things getting really bad. Dan- He thought he knew what I was doing, but he couldn’t prove it, so it was a stand-off. I already had a good idea what he was capable of and maybe it was fear that had me telling myself that things were working with him.

“It was when I met you that things really began to change. I didn’t – I realized… I’ve never just clicked with anyone like that before in my life, and even from watching you at the audition, I knew that I had to get to know you. Once I did…. Colin, I’m in love with you.”

“Ryan…” Colin began, having no idea what he was going to say. He should be saying that he wasn’t gay, but the idea of telling Ryan that made him feel uneasy. 

“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know,” Ryan replied, shifting in his bed to get more comfortable. “Goodnight, Col.”

“Goodnight, Ry,” Colin responded automatically as his brain was suddenly very busy. 

=====.o0o.=====


	12. Kiss of Life

=====.o0o.=====

Colin awoke the next morning to the sound of the shower running without remembering having fallen asleep. His thoughts turned to Ryan’s confession and his own turmoil. Above all, he didn’t want to give up Ryan as a friend, but what did you say to someone who was in love with you? He figured he should probably tell Ryan that he wanted to just be friends, but he wasn’t entirely sure that was true. Greg certainly didn’t seem to think so.

Suddenly, Colin recalled that he’d promised to keep Greg updated and then promptly changed his location without telling him. He flipped through his contact book and dialed Greg’s number. While it rang, he wondered how much the hotel would charge him for calling out of the country. 

“Hello?” The nasally voice on the other end sounded a little groggy and Colin considered that it was pretty late in the evening and Greg may have been asleep. Or maybe he was still jet lagged. Too late now.

“Hey, Greg. It’s Colin.”

“Oh, hi Colin.” Greg immediately perked up. “I didn’t mean you have to give me daily updates, you know.”

“Dan set his house on fire,” Colin explained without preamble. 

“Fuck. Is Ryan okay?” 

“He’s okay. No thanks to Dan. He tied him to the bed before he left.”

“Shit,” Greg let out a breath. “Tell me everything.”

So Colin told him everything from the moment he’d left, assuring him that they were okay, and they’d let him know if there was anything he could do to help. 

“What aren’t you telling me?” Greg asked after a brief silence.

Colin glanced at the bathroom door, shower still running behind it. “Ryan told me he loves me.”

“About time he made a move. Did you guys do it?”

“I’m talking to a teenager,” Colin moaned, refusing to answer the question. “How did you know he’d make a move?”

“Because glaciers move faster than you do. It was bound to be him that made the move.”

“Greg…”

“Fine. No, he didn’t tell me as much because he’s Ryan, but he didn’t have to. Just watching him watching you was like being trapped in a chick flick,” Greg explained. “So what’s the problem? If you feed me more of that not gay crap, I’m hanging up.”

“I’m in my thirties; I think I’d know if I liked men by now.”

“All right. Just one question then: if you know you’re not interested, why are you having this conversation with me and not him?”

Colin didn’t have an answer to that. Fortunately, the shower had stopped, and he used that as an excuse to hang up before he had to come up with some sort of explanation for Greg. He could hear Greg laughing at him as he put the phone back.

“Who was that?” Ryan asked as he came out of the bathroom dressed in the previous day’s clothes. 

“Just Greg. I thought I’d let him know what was going on.” 

Ryan nodded. “I still smell like smoke,” he complained.

“Let’s go to the store and pick up something for you to wear,” Colin suggested. Ryan frowned and shook his head, obviously concerned about his lack of finances. “My treat.”

“I don’t want you to pay for me.”

“I’d consider it a favor to myself, so I don’t have to smell you,” Colin joked, but Ryan was still fumbling with his shirt sleeve and looking apprehensive about the whole situation. “Look, you can pay me back if you feel you must.”

That was apparently the key phrase Ryan was looking for because he accepted. Colin got ready for the day while making idle talk with Ryan who was oscillating between behaving like someone kicked his puppy and a child who’d been informed of school being closed. It made a lot of sense that he wasn’t sure how to react given that he’d suddenly gained a lot of freedom at the expense of his career and relationship. 

“I should call my agent before we leave and let her know where I am,” Colin was saying as he pulled on his socks and shoes. “Do you have an agent?”

“No. I haven’t been doing much besides  _ Whose Line, _ and Dan picked everything out for me.”

“So, there’s no one you want to call?”

“No.” Colin bit his tongue instead of pestering Ryan. He wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth about having no one to contact, which wasn’t unlikely given Dan’s isolating techniques, but Ryan didn’t seem to want to call anyone regardless. “No one knows where I am,” he commented idly, like it didn’t matter one way or the other. 

“You know, I really like my agent. She’s been great for me. I could ask her if she’d take you on. She would probably be thrilled since I’m her biggest name right now.” Ryan didn’t respond right away, so Colin went on. “I’m mostly using her as an answering service at the moment, so she gets messages to me that are important and sometimes job offers she thinks I’d be interested in.”

“I’ll think about it,” Ryan said.

After calling his agent who was about ready to shit bricks after hearing about the scandal that was  _ Whose Line _ , they made their way outside where Buscelli was sitting in a patrol car. Buscelli looked altogether too awake, and Colin figured he must have at least traded off with someone for the night shift. He quickly warmed up to the idea of playing chauffeur when Colin started chatting with him, and Colin didn’t ask if it was against policy to be driving them around instead of tailing them.

Their first stop was at the mall where they ate a healthy breakfast of fast food. Buscelli walked with them, keeping up a constant stream of conversation. Colin couldn’t tell if Ryan’s foul mood was at the prospect of clothes shopping or having to listen to Buscelli while he did it. He’d put money on both. 

“You could just get shorts,” Colin suggested after twenty minutes of searching for something in Ryan’s size. Everything was either too short or too wide around the hips. Ryan gave him a withering glare. Colin thought about complimenting his legs, but figured it would just dig him deeper. 

Another ten minutes, which was approximately an eternity for Colin when it came to shopping, and Ryan had settled on four shirts and two pairs of pants and a belt to compensate for a waist size that was far too large. They also picked up a packet of socks and some boxers. Then, Colin took control and began to load the cart with toiletries and some basic necessities. Ryan didn’t comment on most of it, but he did exchange the blue toothbrush for a green one, finally gracing Colin with a silly grin, which made him feel like he’d received the stamp of approval for all his other choices. Colin paid for their merchandise while Ryan collected the bags in his arms.

“Where next, boss?” Buscelli asked.

“Post Office,” Ryan requested. Buscelli looked a bit surprised, probably because that was the most Ryan had said to him all day, but he drove them there without further comment on the subject.

Ryan, as it turned out, was eagerly awaiting a message from his bank granting him access to his own funds. He was disappointed to find that they had no mail for him. “I’m going to be stuck here bumming off of you forever,” he complained as he took a drag from his cigarette and glared at Buscelli in his car across the street.

It occurred to Colin that they hadn’t discussed future plans at all. They only ever seemed to be handling one catastrophe after another. “Why don’t you stay with me in Toronto?” Colin asked.

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course not. You can make it a base camp of operations until, well, as long as you like, really.”

“Yeah, okay. I’m so ready to leave England.”

“Me, too,” Colin grumbled along good naturedly. They both went back inside and switched his address to Colin’s and then headed to the car. From that point on, Ryan seemed to be in better spirits, even engaging Buscelli in a bit of conversation, and Colin had to wonder if living arrangements hadn’t been weighing heavily on his mind. He was trying to have foresight to prevent Ryan from having to ask for things, but it was nearly impossible to catch everything when he had no frame of reference.

Next, they went to Ryan’s burned down house where a team of firefighters were still working through the rubble. Buscelli was preparing to go with them, but then his radio went off, and he waved them away. Colin and Ryan approached one of the men. “Is it safe to go in?” 

“You lived here?” 

“Yeah,” Ryan confirmed. “Can I go in?”

“Stay in the cleared path, don’t touch the walls and don’t go upstairs.” 

Ryan nodded and the two of them walked around the house. Colin had never seen it when it wasn’t on fire before, so he didn’t have anything to compare it to, but it was clearly in poor shape with little recognizable aside from charred furniture. Ryan’s eyes were full of memories, so he waited patiently as he moved from room to room, stopping by the stairs. 

“He surprised me. Knocked me out and tied me up. Said he’d start the fire in the living room so I had time to think about what I’d done to him, time to pray.” Ryan’s words were indistinct, like he was thinking to himself and not talking to Colin. 

Colin took his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. Ryan gave him a brief smile, then moved into the study, which was largely intact. He rifled through some files in the cabinet and came away with a collection of papers stashed into a folder and a relieved look. “There’s nothing else you want?” Colin asked as they headed back to the front door. He couldn’t imagine leaving behind his own house with only a small packet of papers. 

“I’d leave everything, except I’ll be needing my passport, birth certificate and such. I guess I should feel lucky that it’s all still here.” Ryan walked away from the place he’d called home for six years without a backward glance. 

“Good news!” Buscelli greeted them, leaning on the driver’s side door and sporting a large smile. “We’ve got him. They just arrested Patterson.”

It was all rather anticlimactic. Dan hadn’t come after them again, probably hadn’t even known Ryan survived the fire, and there hadn’t been some high speed road chase. There was just a quiet recognition at security at the airport, and Dan was taken in.

Colin sighed in relief, but Ryan just nodded, not showing much reaction. Buscelli drove them back to their hotel and headed off, saying that they didn’t need his protection any longer. Colin thanked him for all of his help and even shook his hand as he left. Ryan kindly waited until he was gone to admit that the officer had been driving him nuts. 

“Come on,” Ryan said suddenly, tossing his bags onto his bed and grabbing Colin’s hand to drag him to the door. Colin followed him willingly, locking it behind him before he was pulled down the hallway. 

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” Ryan explained as they left the building. “This way.” Ryan pointed with his left hand, his right still tugging Colin along. He started going faster and faster until Colin was jogging to keep up.

“Why are we running?” Colin inquired.

“Oh, you want to run?” Ryan asked with a wicked grin, picking up his pace until they were running, earning strange looks from everyone they passed. Colin didn’t pay them any attention as he realized he was having fun despite their circumstances. They reached the entrance to Hyde Park, both panting for breath. “Come on,” Ryan continued, grabbing hold of Colin again and heading into the park. 

When they reached the water’s edge, Ryan flopped down on the grass and looked up at the sky. Colin laid down beside him. “I came here once, when I first came to the U.K., went boating out on the lake. I kept trying to get Dan to come down here with me, but he was always working or wanted to stay in.” 

They stayed in a peaceful silence for several long minutes before Ryan stood and decided he wanted another adventure. This adventure took the form of climbing a tree with branches dangling out over the water. Colin was leery at first for fear of falling in, but joined him anyway. It was a good thing, too, because Ryan was suddenly leaning over the branch and nearly went tumbling into the water, had Colin not straightened him. “I’m not sure the hotel would appreciate us coming back soaked. Not to mention our clothes.”

“I’ve got more clothes now.”

“But no more shoes.”

“I can never seem to find them in my size.”

“That’s because your shoes comfortably seat four.”

Ryan frowned, trying to look upset before bursting into giggles. “You’re just jealous because you know what they say about big feet.”

“Uh huh.”

They lapsed into a long, comfortable silence. Ryan’s shoulder rubbed against Colin’s as they looked out over the water. Colin was beginning to think it’d been a great idea to come out here as all of their problems seemed to melt away while they sat in the tree together. 

Then Ryan kissed him. 

It wasn’t the best kiss in the world, particularly with how Colin nearly lost his balance in surprise, but he couldn’t deny that it was a good kiss and there were metaphorical sparks flying. He slowly pulled away from Ryan and dropped his gaze. “This isn’t a good idea.”

Ryan followed his eyes and landed on his own hands where Dan’s promise ring still rested on his ring finger. He tugged it off angrily and hurled it out into the lake where it disappeared with a small ripple. “Let’s stop by the studio, okay? I’ve got a few things I’d like to collect before we get out of dodge.”

“Okay,” Colin agreed easily. 

After a taxi ride that seemed to go on forever in the late afternoon traffic, they entered the studio, emptied Ryan’s small assortment of possessions into a backpack he had stowed there and headed back out. There were a few personal items like photographs and books and Colin was pleased to know that Ryan was walking away with something to call his own.

They ran into Mark on their way out. “Ryan!” he greeted enthusiastically. “I wasn’t sure how to get ahold of you, and there was that fire at your house…” His smile tapered off. “I heard what happened, and I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.” It sounded like he was apologizing for some personal wrongdoings, and Ryan seemed to pick up on that as well.

“Mark. I understand more than anyone on the planet your situation. Don’t blame yourself. I don’t blame you.” Then Ryan leaned forward and uncharacteristically pulled Mark into a hug.

Mark pulled away after the brief exchange and nodded. “Thank you.”

“What’s going on, anyway?” Ryan asked.

“Corporate is coming down on us. They’ve called a meeting for tomorrow. My guess is that they heard about what happened with Dan and want to distance themselves from us as quickly as possible.” Ryan collected the time and location from Mark and promised that he’d attend the meeting. 

=====.o0o.=====


	13. Tour

=====.o0o.=====

Colin had just drifted off to sleep when he began to dream of warm lips pressing gently onto his own. He responded to the touch with a slight moan as the lips pushed a little harder against his. Large hands slipped under his shirt and slid up his stomach in a smooth motion that tugged his nightshirt up to his neck, then made the return trip downwards, leaving his skin tingling and desire spiking through him. The lips left his face to join the hands roaming along his chest, spreading quick kisses around his navel before latching onto a nipple and suckling.

It was at that moment that Colin’s sleepy brain decided to catch up with itself and inform him that this was not, in fact, a dream. It then proceeded to remind Colin that the only other occupant of the room was Ryan and thus, it was definitely Ryan licking his left nipple at the moment and definitely Ryan whose hand was gently tugging at his other nipple. Other parts of his anatomy decided that this was definitely not a problem and began to stand at attention.

“Ry,” Colin began, his voice catching from the other man’s ministrations. “What are you doing?”

Ryan’s mouth came off his nipple with a pop while his hands continued to stroke his chest. “You’ve been so good to me. You saved my life, twice. You helped me get away from Dan. You took me in… I want you to know that I appreciate everything you’ve done.”

Colin caught both of Ryan’s hands, careful not to rub against his healing wrists, and firmly tugged them away from his body. “So this is just you trying to thank me?” He was more than a little disturbed. 

“No,” Ryan denied. “It’s a lot more than that.”

Ryan slipped his hands from Colin’s grasp and braced himself as he leaned in to capture Colin’s lips again. Colin found himself responding in kind despite the part of his brain which was telling him that it was all wrong. He didn’t like men in that way. Still, he followed Ryan’s lead in the kiss, leaning forward to try to extend it even as Ryan pulled away so that he could straddle Colin’s waist. 

Colin licked his lips as he stared up at the other man who was dressed only in his boxers, and couldn’t help but think that he was beautiful despite the hints of bruises marring his torso or the long knife mark stretched over his chest. Gently, Colin traced the wound with his finger, suddenly reminded of Ryan’s recent stint in the hospital. “We shouldn’t do this.”

Ryan shook his head and grabbed Colin’s hand, pushing it away from his injury. “I’m fine. I’ll be careful. Besides,” he brought Colin’s hand down to his groin and pressed it against his hardness, “I want you.”

Colin hadn’t ever touched another man’s penis before and although the thought of it should have made him uncomfortable, he found himself becoming more aroused. This was Ryan, after all. Whatever other protests he may have come up with froze on his tongue as Ryan bent back over him to give him another heated kiss and the only part of him that was thinking for the rest of the evening was his dick. 

He pressed up against the warm weight on his hips as he gripped Ryan’s waist in both hands and attempted to pull him even closer. Ryan chuckled into the kiss, nipping at Colin’s lips and exploring his mouth with his tongue as his hands explored everywhere else. “Ryan.” Colin groaned, “I need…” He didn’t know what he needed besides something more. Ryan was driving him crazy with desire. 

Ryan seemed to know, though, as he slid down the length of Colin’s body until his head was level with Colin’s underwear. He tugged it down and gripped his length in a firm hold before sliding his hand down to the base and replacing it with his mouth. Colin’s breath caught in his throat at the sensations, and he found himself throwing back his head and lacing his fingers into Ryan’s hair as he tried not to thrust upwards. It had been an embarrassingly long time for him, and it wasn’t much effort to get him on the edge.

Before Colin could find release, Ryan was moving away, slipping off his own boxers and then laying fully over him like a blanket. He went back to kissing with enough enthusiasm that Colin could almost forget his disappointment from an incomplete blowjob. Then, Ryan shifted until their cocks were pressed against each other, and it was difficult not to gasp at the feeling. A huge hand encircled both of them, rubbing them together and tugging on them in a practiced motion. The remaining wetness of Ryan’s saliva eased the way without losing the pleasurable friction. Colin bucked into the grip erratically until he was at last able to orgasm, Ryan finishing shortly after with a quiet moan as he splashed onto their stomachs.

Ryan reached to the floor and quickly wiped them both off with what was probably a sock before slumping down on the bed beside him, his breathing still as heavy as Colin’s own from the exertion. He cuddled into Colin’s shoulder and fell asleep. 

Colin stayed awake as his brain tried to process what he’d just done with Ryan and what it meant.

=====.o0o.=====

“I’m really not sure I should be going to this thing,” Colin complained for the third time since they’d left the taxi and started toward the meeting room.

“They’re already planning to drop us. There’s very little you can say that could possibly make it worse,” Ryan explained again. “Besides, I want you there.”

It was the last comment that got to Colin, and he finally stopped grousing. If Ryan wanted him there, then he was going to show up. Not to mention that it really was too late to turn around. Mark met them near the door of the conference room in much nicer clothes than either of them were wearing and quirked an eyebrow at Colin’s presence but didn’t say anything about it.

Once inside, they were greeted by five older men in suits who looked like they might get paid to appear grim. Colin felt more than a little uncomfortable as they exchanged pleasantries. That lasted approximately one minute, or, in other words, the shortest length of time without being considered rude. The board had it down to an art. 

“Now, let’s get down to business,” the man at the head of the table began. “Due to the inability of your producer, Dan Patterson, to continue in his role, the board has voted to remove  _ Whose Line is it Anyway _ from next year’s schedule. We will still be broadcasting the tapes from this series, but we will not be renewing your contract.”

Neither Mark nor Ryan said anything as they’d already expected as much. To them, the meeting was more of a formality than anything else. The head continued to blabber on about contracts, termination, fees, and schedules that Colin mostly tuned out. Everyone was talking like this was already a done deal, and Colin just couldn’t fathom that.

When the speaker finally paused, Colin cut in, taking everyone in the room by surprise. “I don’t understand. Mark and Ryan know everything there is to know about the show. They could run the production without Patterson.”

After an awkward silence, one of the other board members said, “There’s no evidence to substantiate that claim.”

Ryan looked thoroughly annoyed at that, or maybe it was Colin’s outburst that was egging him on. “You’re just worried about bad press,” he accused bluntly.

“Yes,” the person at the head of the table admitted. “That’s no small part of our decision. There’s no station in all of the United Kingdom that would touch  _ Whose Line _ right now.”

“Then I guess we don’t have anything else to discuss.” Ryan stood abruptly and stalked out of the room. Colin left with him, watching him pace the hallway in his frustration until Mark exited as well, obviously having made a more tactful retreat.

“Well, that was fun,” Mark said as they moved towards the exit. “At least they’re running this season.”

“But only because it’s too late and costs too much to replace it. They’re stuck,” Ryan responded.

“So long as they’re stuck with us,” Mark quipped. “I brought my car. You guys need a lift?”

“Only if you take us to some place that serves alcohol,” Ryan suggested. 

The three of them went out for beers at a nearby pub, thankfully not the one that Colin had been attacked at. He realized then that that had been the last night he’d had a beer and relaxed. As he sipped on his second beer, Colin suddenly wondered how Ryan had been able to pay for his beers without access to his money. As if reading his mind, Ryan made a comment about actually missing Dan’s beer and smokes allowance while looking sadly down at his last two cigarettes.

They drank together with only the odd comment between them until the alcohol softened their inhibitions and conversation seemed like a fine idea. “To the end of  _ Whose Line _ .” Mark offered up as a toast. 

Colin raised his glass and drank, but Ryan sat musing into his mug. “Why does it have to be the end?” he asked. “Colin’s right. We can run the show without Dan.” Colin looked at him in surprise; Ryan had been the one to keep saying the show would die without Dan and it had. Maybe all it had taken for him to change his mind was someone saying it was possible.

“You heard what they said; no one’s going to pick us up here.”

“Then we’ll go to the U.S. and make a name for ourselves there. It’s a bigger market and half the cast is American anyway,” Ryan declared, warming up to the idea. “We can do a live tour around the U.S. to build up some interest, sell the tickets cheap, you know? Then we can use our results to pitch to American stations and capitalize on our success in the U.K. What do you say?”

“I’m game,” Colin replied without hesitation, excited at the prospect of bringing  _ Whose Line _ back to life and working with Ryan again. “But how are we going to fund this?”

“It should pay for itself with ticket sales, but I can front the cost once I have access to my bank account.”

“And who’s going to organize all the tour dates? Book the venues?” Colin continued.

“We’ll hire someone.” Colin continued to pester Ryan about details, but as they discussed, it seemed more and more feasible to put on their own tour. Finally, they both turned and looked at Mark who had been silent throughout the majority of the discussion. “So, Mark, are you in? We can’t do it without you.”

“I’m not sure you can do it with me. I don’t know if I can call the shots like Dan was able to. It seems kind of a long-shot to get back on the air. And even if we’re successful, that means working in the U.S. long-term. And we’ll need investors.”

“I know it’s a long-shot, but our other option is to give up, and I’m not ready to do that yet,” Ryan argued in earnest.

“All right,” Mark conceded. “I’ll do it. I mean, why not?”

“That’s the spirit!”

“I’ll drink to that!”

“Just one thing,” Mark added, chewing on his lip nervously. “I don’t mind if you guys are together or anything, but I think we need to tone down the sexual stuff, at least until we’re established. I mean, Americans will censor anything.”

Colin felt his stomach twist up in a knot, but Ryan didn’t seem bothered by Mark’s comment. “Sure thing,” the taller man agreed. They hadn’t talked about what had transpired the night before, and Colin suddenly felt guilty about that. Did Ryan think they were in a relationship? Were they?

Colin had tentatively been willing to try something with Ryan but found himself backpedaling in the morning light. It certainly hadn’t helped when he caught sight of the newspaper while getting breakfast at the hotel.  _ Man Behind TV’s Whose Line is it Anyway Charged with Attempted Murder _ had been one of the primary articles. It wouldn’t have been too badly jarring had the article not insinuated that it was a crime of passion following the discovery of his lover having an affair with one of his costars. Funny how some journalist knew about them before he even did. And then Colin wasn’t so sure he could take the limelight.

“So who’s going on this tour?” Mark asked. “Obviously you two. And we should definitely get Josie and Tony, if they’re not already booked.”

“We’ll want Greg,” Colin added. “I’m sure he’d be up for it.”

“I’d like Brad, Sandi and Jim, too,” Ryan suggested. “And I can tell you now that Tony won’t be able to do it. So maybe Chip. Oh, and definitely Richard.”

“Chip?” Colin asked dubiously, still remembering him bouncing around on stage and jostling an injured Ryan.

“You got something against him? It’ll be good to have someone high energy if Tony’s out.”

“Just that we won’t be able to afford this trip if we have to pay for his coffee.”

Ryan snorted. 

“Well, I better get going.” Mark announced, standing up. “I’ve got to call everyone and tell them we won’t be keeping their contracts for next year. I’ll see who’s available for the tour, too, while I’m at it. Might soften the blow.”

“Let me know, okay?” Ryan asked.

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

Colin stepped in, scribbling numbers on a napkin and handing it off. “This is the hotel we’re at now. This is my home phone, and this is my agent’s phone number.”

There was a round of goodbyes before Mark departed, and Colin and Ryan were left drinking by themselves. “Do you suppose they’ll blame me?”

“Blame you for what?” Colin frowned.

“For getting the show cancelled,” Ryan elaborated in an oddly insecure voice. “Maybe they won’t want to work with me again.”

“Then it’s their loss,” Colin said firmly.

They decided to head back to their hotel, catching a taxi and spending a silent ride inside their own heads. As they entered the hotel, Ryan suggested, “If you don’t mind paying for me, maybe we can catch a plane tomorrow.”

Colin nodded even as he was cringing inside about the cost of such a spontaneous flight. “You don’t have to stay and testify?”

“Nah, the lawyers think it’s a slam dunk case, but if I do, it won’t be for a couple months anyway.” Ryan reported from the information he’d gathered on the phone that morning.

“Okay, I’ll call the airport,” Colin offered, closing their door and moving toward the phone.

Ryan caught his arm and halted his progress, pushing his back against the wall. “It can wait,” he said, leaning down to kiss Colin again. 

It took all of Colin’s willpower to push him away. Ryan looked confused, so Colin explained the best he could. “I need some time to think.”

Ryan nodded and backed off. 

=====.o0o.=====


	14. About Damn Time

=====.o0o.=====

“What are we doing here? We’re starting the tour in a couple days! You can’t seriously want to pick up someone new now.” Mark was whispering to Ryan the same argument that Colin had given him earlier that morning. 

“Greg recommended him, and Dan really wanted him for  _ Whose Line _ , so he’s gotta be good,” Ryan informed them. “Now shut up and watch.”

Mark and Colin both did as they were told and pinned their attention on the stage where Greg was performing an improv set with the new guy that had Ryan so interested. Colin had to admit that the guy was good. He could tell that improv was something new to him, but he could also tell that he was gifted, and with a little practice, he could become one of the greats. When he started belting out hilarious lyrics at a rate that would have people questioning whether it was truly improvised, Colin was well and truly impressed. “He’s fantastic,” he murmured to Ryan. 

“Not as good as you,” Ryan whispered back, “but he’s got the voice.”

When the set was over, there was a wave of applause and approval from the crowd and conversation started back up all over the dining area. “So?” Ryan prompted.

“He’s young,” Mark began. “Has he even hit twenty?”

“He’s 22, and he’ll appeal to the younger audiences.”

“He’s unrefined and inexperienced,” Mark continued.

Ryan grinned back at him. “Just admit it, you think he’s great.”

“I do,” Mark conceded. “I’m not sure it’s the best idea to bring someone on so late, but I’ll defer to your judgment.” It was late to be hiring another person, but Sandi hadn’t agreed to join them, and Jim had cancelled last minute. They’d even had to find a new pianist. Still, Colin was silently thanking everyone else who’d agreed to participate. He wasn’t sure what kind of effect it would have had on Ryan if no one was willing to work under him and Mark.

Colin caught sight of Greg coming over with the new guy and smiled. He hadn’t seen Greg since the end of filming, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit that he missed his friend. Ryan stood and offered out his hand when they arrived. “Ryan Stiles.” 

The other man shook his hand. “Wayne Brady.”

“So, Wayne. I’ve got an offer you might be interested in.”

=====.o0o.=====

“That was incredible,” Greg declared as he relaxed against the headboard of Colin’s hotel bed after their very first touring performance. “I don’t know why I ever stopped performing live. You know what? Screw bringing  _ Whose Line _ back on the air, I want to keep up my live performances.”

“Don’t let Ryan hear such sacrilege,” Colin admonished. “He wants  _ Whose Line _ back on the air more than anything.”

“Don’t I know it. He’s been a nervous wreck the last couple days. What’s up with him anyway? He hardly ever gets nerves.”

Colin handed Greg a beer and sat down on Ryan’s bed. “He was worried that we’d be performing to an empty theater or everyone would drop out last minute once people got wind of the Dan fiasco. I think today went a long way to helping him realize that no one blames him for what happened.”

“It’s going to be a long time before he’s fully recovered from all of that.”

“Tell me about it,” Colin muttered, looking at the ground. “He still wakes up screaming every once in a while, thinking he’s on fire.”

“Jesus.” Greg visibly cringed and made a face. “It’s still weird thinking someone I knew snapped like that. Aside from the occasional nightmare, he’s okay?”

“It’s hard to tell because he’s Ryan and insists on hiding how he feels. But it seems like he’s a little better every day,” Colin said, thinking back to the first day Ryan had arrived at his home and sat awkwardly on the couch with his lonely backpack, trying not to take up too much room and looking for all the world like he was waiting for Colin to yell at him for something. Two months in, right before the tour started, Ryan could have owned the place the way he prowled around it, and Colin found he didn’t mind, even if Ryan did have a tendency to lose his meager belongings around the house. 

“Where is he anyway?”

“Out with Mark determining the strengths and weaknesses of this performance and strategizing for next time.” 

“Shouldn’t you be with them?” Greg asked. It was rare to see Colin anywhere but at Ryan’s side these days. 

“I am so sick of meetings,” Colin moaned. “I joined improv so I didn’t have to plan. Besides, I’m trying to do something special for Ry and it’s a surprise, so I have to work on it when he’s not around.”

“Speaking of which, what is going on with you two? You’re like two peas in a pod that want to fuck but don’t for some reason.” Something in Colin’s face must have given him away because Greg was suddenly grinning evilly. “Or apparently you do. When did this happen?”

Colin was certain his whole head was bright red from embarrassment. He wanted to tell Greg to shove it, but he also wanted someone to talk to. “Just once,” Colin mumbled. Ryan had been diligently not pressuring him since he’d asked for more time two months ago, but just his presence in Colin’s house was enough to drive him crazy sometimes. 

“And how was it?” Colin blushed even harder and didn’t look up. “I see,” Greg went on with a smirk. “And how would you feel if Ryan moved out of your house and shacked up with some other guy?” Again, Colin didn’t say a word, but Greg paid him no heed and continued to make unsubstantiated claims that were annoyingly accurate. “So, you’re in love with him.”

This time, Greg did wait for a response, and Colin had to fight with himself to get it out. “I am.”

“I hate to break it to you, Col, but Ryan’s a guy and that makes you at least a little gay.”

“I know,” Colin sighed. “I’m just not ready to be… gay. I’ve already been beaten up once for someone thinking I might be. There’s a lot of homophobes out there, and there’s my career to think about.”

“So, you’d rather Ryan face all that by himself.” 

“What?”

“Well, he’s going to face that either way. He already has. I’m sure it’d be easier if he didn’t have to do it alone,” Greg pointed out in a way that made Colin’s gut clench. How many scathing articles had been written about Ryan since he came out? “Ryan’s not going to wait around forever for you, you know. Even if it seems like he would now, you’re going to have to make a choice between the image you want and the person you love. And if I have to explain this one more time to you, I’m bringing a bat and knocking some sense into you.”

“Geez, and I was the one in anger management classes.”

Greg just smiled and patted him on the shoulder before flouncing out of the room. 

Colin flopped down on Ryan’s bed and thought about what Greg had said. He couldn’t have his cake and eat it too. Half of England already thought he was sleeping with Ryan since before he’d broken it off with Dan. What did it really matter, anyway? He  _ did _ want Ryan in that way, and Ryan had made it perfectly clear that he reciprocated. Decision made, Colin felt a wave of relief over him and his eyes drifted closed.

When he opened them again, Ryan was standing over him with a bemused expression on his face and a small paper bag in his hand. “Something wrong with your bed?”

“Um.”

“Does it have anything to do with this bag I found on the desk?” Ryan asked, looking even more amused.

“That’s not my bag. Greg must have left it.” 

All amusement left Ryan’s face and was replaced by anger and hurt. He threw the bag onto the bed and stormed out of the room without another word, leaving behind a bewildered Colin. “What the hell?” he asked the empty room as he jumped to his feet and looked at the contents of the bag. Condoms, lube, a blindfold, more lube. Shit. Ryan must have jumped to the wrong conclusion about why Greg would have brought those things to his room.

Bolting out the door, Colin found Josie in the hallway about to enter her room. “Have you seen Ryan?” 

Pointing down the hall, Josie commented that he’d better calm him down before he killed someone. Colin cringed, thanked her, and took off around the corner. 

“Ryan!” he called as he saw the tall figure striding toward the stairs. Ryan ignored him, so Colin had to sprint down the hallway to catch up with him at the top of the steps. “Ryan, would you just listen to me?”

“I thought you wanted time to sort out the whole guy thing, and I waited for you. You could have just said it was  _ me _ you weren’t interested in,” Ryan snarled before losing all his steam and slumping against a wall. “Fucking hell.”

“I’m not sleeping with Greg!” Colin practically shouted, hoping no one was around to hear them. “I’m not interested in sleeping with Greg,” he continued at a more reasonable volume as Ryan finally let him approach. “The only person I’m interested in sleeping with is you. I told him that, and I assume Greg dropped off supplies to try to speed along the process.”

“You’re not sleeping with Greg?” Ryan clarified as he cautiously peeked up, having lost his furious demeanor.

“No, you idiot. He was just trying to help.” Colin slowly stepped toward Ryan.

“And you want to sleep with me.” Ryan stated again, still looking a little doubtful. 

“Yes,” Colin enunciated, taking another step until he was well within Ryan’s personal space. “I love you,” he declared at a whisper as he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against Ryan’s. 

“Does this mean-?”

“Yes.” Colin cut him off before kissing him again. 

Ryan responded like the last shred of self-control had been stolen from him, cupping Colin’s head in his hands as he deepened the kiss. Colin had no idea how long they stood in the stairwell as time seemed to have lost all meaning. Ryan’s hands had moved from his head to slip under his shirt, tugging Colin closer until they were pressed together and their erections were rubbing against each other through the material of their pants. 

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Colin admitted as they broke apart for air, both gasping. 

“I’ll show you.” Ryan promised, dipping his head to join their lips in another heated kiss.

A wolf-whistle jerked them apart, and Colin whipped his head around to find Wayne and Chip making their way down the stairs. Colin was thankful it was people he knew and not some strangers. “Get a room,” Wayne exclaimed in his own manner of approval, which was comforting to Colin considering that they’d barely known each other for two days. Chip just grinned and shook his head, muttering something about it being about damn time. Between the two of them and Greg, Colin was reasonably certain that the whole cast would be in the know by the following day. There was no going back now, but Colin didn’t feel the slightest remorse. 

He dropped his head on Ryan’s chest and felt his heart hammering away at the same speed as his own. The taller man wrapped his arms around him. As their interrupters moved past them, Ryan commented that a room wasn’t such a bad idea. “Remind me to thank Greg,” he added as they straightened their clothing and hurried back the way they came. 

“Oh, you have no idea.” Colin smiled as he took Ryan’s hand in his and walked down the hall unafraid. Whatever unknown dangers they would face, they would face them together.

=====.o0o.=====


	15. Epilogue

=====.o0o.=====

Dauntless, Colin caught whatever strange conglomeration of food-like substance that tumbled out of Ryan’s mouth, and the crowd went wild. No matter how many times they did it, catching the half-chewed food in his bare hands never failed to amuse the audience. Colin tossed it around in his hands before slamming it back on the table and could practically hear people gagging from the stage. He smiled into Ryan’s neck. Colin had always loved Hands Through because it gave him the opportunity to have a prolonged hug on stage, not to mention the joys of torturing Ryan.

Following the vocal prompts from the man in front of him, Colin then scooped up some mashed potatoes, absolutely covering his hands with them and offered them out to Josie, who he was supposedly on a date with. They were cold and clumpy in all the wrong ways, and he wasn’t surprised when Josie refused the food. Ryan, however, was not so fortunate and simply had to supply an explanation as to why the food was going into his mouth.

They were halfway through their tour and already coming out of the red as far as investments went, which Colin took for a very good sign. Every performance was to a packed theater and every audience loved them. All of the players were having a blast and the tour was appearing to have been a genius idea. Wayne had taken to the environment like a duck to water and was well on his way to become irreplaceable. Laura Hall, their replacement pianist, was surprisingly successful for having been picked up last minute. Even if they couldn’t get back on television, the live tour was doing well enough that they could easily keep it up for several years. 

Ryan had been a little off his game today, though Colin doubted anyone else picked up on his anxiety. In a few days, they’d be off to LA and hopefully several investors, but this relatively small town in Washington was getting Ryan antsy. It was no wonder to Colin, though, because they were performing in the state where most of his alienated family lived. 

The game ended and Colin only made a half-hearted attempt at getting the potatoes off his hands before they moved in to give their bows. He was in between Ryan and Greg and they both gave him a dirty look when he grasped their hands in his still filthy palms, but he just smiled out at the audience and squeezed a little tighter.

Colin, Greg and Ryan all scurried into the bathroom directly after the show to wash their hands properly and splash each other childishly. They were laughing and in generally high spirits after another successful performance, but when they emerged from the restroom, Ryan stopped suddenly and the others nearly plowed into him. 

“Ryan,” an unfamiliar female voice called out. 

Colin and Greg both stepped around Ryan so they could see the older woman and younger man who had completely stolen Ryan’s attention. “Mom. Robert,” Ryan said cautiously. “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t be mad,” Colin began, quickly earning Ryan’s gaze, “but I sent a couple VIP tickets to your family. I thought this could be a chance to fix things.”

Ryan gave him a look that clearly said,  _ we’re going to talk about this when we get home _ , and then turned back to his family. “I’m sorry,” Ryan said tightly.

“We’ve missed you so much,” His mother began, tears evident in her eyes. 

“You didn’t want me, you told me never to come back,” Ryan refuted, his voice and body tense, like he was fighting the urge to flee.

“Your father said that, and I was wrong not to speak up, but we were all still in shock. I’ve tried to get through to you dozens of times since, but all of my calls and letters never seemed to reach you.” The woman twisted her hands, looking miserable and Colin felt sorry for her. Dan must have been running interference for years. “Even your father feels badly about what happened. He collects tapes of everything you’ve recorded, you know. He still loves you.”

“Ryan.” Robert finally spoke up, “You never even talked to me before you took off. I would have supported you; I still support you. I don’t care if you’re gay, you’ll always be my little brother. Please don’t shut me out again.”

Tentatively, Robert took a couple steps forward and enveloped Ryan in a hug, which he returned. After, his mother gave him a hug as well. Colin felt like he was prying into something private, but there was no good route of escape either, so he stood where he was beside Greg and waited until Ryan turned and introduced them. “This is Greg,” he said, gesturing vaguely, “and my boyfriend, Colin.”

Greg shook hands with them, and Colin tried the same, but both Ryan’s brother and mother tugged him into a hug instead. Colin figured it was their way of saying that they were going to support their relationship. 

“Maybe we could get dinner before you have to leave?” Ryan’s mother suggested. Ryan looked a little hesitant. “Your friends could come along, too.”

“Yeah, okay.” 

“By the way,” Robert added, “That was a pretty awesome show. Who knew you were so talented?” 

Colin smiled. Things would probably never be the same between Ryan and his family, but they could get better.

=====.o0o.=====

Colin sat uncomfortably between Ryan and Mark, once again wondering how it was that he got dragged into these meetings. His agent used to do these things, but Ryan was imposing his more hands-on approach, and Colin had a hard time saying no to Ryan. 

This wasn’t a pitch, Colin reminded himself, and he didn’t have to do anything. They’d already accepted the pitch and had gone off to do their own research. This was the point of time where ABC would make their demands of what changes to the show would have to occur before they would sign a contract and then, if all went well, they’d sign a temporary one year contract that would be renewed if their ratings were good enough.

Colin cast a glance around Ryan to the portly man sitting on his right. He’d only been briefly introduced to Drew Carey a few minutes ago, but if Ryan was right, and he was some sort of big name in the stand-up comedian world (Colin had certainly never heard of him, but he didn’t follow stand-up like Ryan did), then it was largely thanks to him that ABC was even considering them. Carey had attended one of their performances and had offered to help support them. He was most likely going to sign on as an executive producer, which meant that he had a lot of money. Really, it was a dream come true. As long as they didn’t insist on casting Carey as part of the show.

“We’re going to need Drew Carey to be one of the cast members,” the ABC representative began.

“What?” both Ryan and Drew asked immediately.

“That’s not a good idea,” Mark added.

“He’s the biggest name you have,” the rep argued. “In order to ensure initial views, we need someone who will make a splash.”

“I don’t know anything about improv,” Drew argued. “And even if I did, that doesn’t mean I’d be any good at it. Leave it to the professionals.” 

Colin perked up at that comment. Most people saw what they did and thought that because it looked easy, it was easy. Here was a man with a healthy respect for their art. He supposed that was why Drew had been willing to help them in the first place. But there was one role that wouldn’t necessarily require much skill in improv. “He could be the host,” Colin suggested.

Mark nodded along. “Clive already said he didn’t want to commute to the U.S.” 

Even the rep thought this was a good idea, so they moved on to the next point. “We also feel that familiarity with the characters makes for more consistent viewing. We want Stiles and Mochrie as permanent players, and Brady as a regular, to appeal to our minority viewers. The fourth chair can be rotating between players of your choice.”

Colin had mixed feelings about this demand. Dan had always thought more rotation was good for the show, but Colin couldn’t deny the appeal of a permanent position. He was more than a little annoyed at the insinuation that Brady would simply be their token black man. Over the course of the tour, the young man had grown on him a lot. However, it didn’t matter why they were hiring Brady. He was good at what he did, and they’d need a singer. Everyone agreed to these stipulations and the ones that followed, which included, unsurprisingly, a permanent censor of ABC’s choosing.

Finally, the contract was signed and they were once again on the air! The rep shook all their hands and left them to celebrate and congratulate each other. Ryan leaned in and whispered in Colin’s ear, “We should go celebrate back at the hotel. In bed.”

Colin agreed, and they quickly said their goodbyes. 

“I’m pitching another show to ABC,” Drew commented as they were leaving. “If it gets picked up, you guys should audition. I think you’d be great.”

=====.o0o.=====

It was June of the year 2003.  _ Whose Line is it Anyway _ had been running successfully for ten years in the United States, and they were always hoping for one more year. Ryan and Colin had also recently had their ten year anniversary and were still blissfully happy together, something that was obvious to anyone who knew them. 

However, the last few days, Ryan had been sneaking around a lot more and holding whispered conversations with Mark and Drew, which always resulted in them looking at Colin. He was beginning to get annoyed with the whole thing and planned to confront Ryan after they filmed. 

Ryan reached across the table between their seats and grabbed hold of Colin’s hand, keeping a firm grip even as the cameras started rolling. It was extremely unusual as they always kept up a professional front during tapings. But Ryan wasn’t letting go of his hand and Colin couldn’t bring himself to mind. Aside from that, that show started out as normal.

“Welcome to  _ Whose Line is it Anyway _ , the show where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter. That’s right, the points are just like ‘must be this tall’ signs to Ryan Stiles. Our guests tonight: Everyone’s imaginary friend, Greg Proops! Imagining everyone’s a friend, Wayne Brady! A real friend to the imaginary, Colin Mochrie! And an imaginary friend to imaginary friends, Ryan Stiles! And I’m your host, Drew Carey. Come on down, and let’s have some fun!”

After Drew had gone through his usual introductions, though, he diverted from the flow. “Before we begin tonight, our esteemed Ryan Stiles has asked to take the floor for a minute.”

Ryan smiled at Colin before turning and smiling at the audience. He stood, but only as long as it took him to kneel down beside his chair. He took a small box from his pocket and presented it to Colin. “Colin, will you marry me?”

Colin couldn’t imagine what his face looked like at that moment. He was thrilled at the idea of marrying his long term lover, but they both knew that wasn’t possible. “We can’t. Not legally.” Colin responded quietly, regretting his words even as he said them.

“As of June 10 th , Ontario now performs and recognizes same-sex marriages,” Ryan declared proudly. “We can get married in our own home.”

“Are you serious?” Colin asked, though he already saw the truth in Ryan’s eyes.

“Absolutely. So, will you marry me?”

“Yes.” Colin slid out of his chair so he could wrap his arms around Ryan, an embrace which was returned heartily. “Of course I’ll marry you.”

=====.o0o.=====


End file.
